Hang Seng Bank keen on setting up China wealth management unit

The bank seeks partner for wealth management, insurance and asset management through a joint venture or by buying a stake in another company.

Hang Seng Bank Ltd. is seeking a partner in China to offer wealth management services as it tries to expand in the world’s fastest-growing major economy without competing directly with local lenders.

Hang Seng Bank, the Hong Kong lender controlled by HSBC Holdings Plc, aims to get into strategic partnerships with companies in the insurance, asset management and securities industries, Dorothy Sit, chief executive officer for China, said Tuesday in an interview in Hong Kong.

Citigroup Inc., HSBC and Standard Chartered Plc are among foreign lenders expanding in China to tap growing wealth among the country’s 1.3 billion people. Their local operations are dwarfed by local rivals like Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., which has more than 16,000 outlets in the country.

“Local banks and foreign banks have different business models,” Sit said. “We don’t position ourselves as a daily transaction bank.”

Hang Seng Bank’s China unit will pursue a “limited” expansion of its branch network in the country next year, said Sit. It has 38 branches in China.

View the full story in Bloomberg.