1 |Page

A Project Report on Branch Banking and Wealth Management At HSBC

Submitted by Aditya Patnaik (Student BIMTECH, Noida)

Project submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of Post Graduate Diploma in Management

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

2 |Page

We convey our deep acknowledgement to all those who made it possible for us to complete this project, by extending their support and continuous co-operation. We would like to acknowledge the consistent encouragement extended by the Director, Faculty members of our institution. Our sincere gratitude to the project guide Mr N Suresh, VP and Branch Head, HSBC; Mr Sreejith, Associate VP- Customer Services, HSBC; Mr Mohan, Associate VP- Wealth Management Services, HSBC, whose constant guidance, efforts, heartfelt support, suggestions and consideration helped us in the successful completion of this project. We also extend our humble thanks to all the executive and non executive staff members of HSBC for their full hearted support and assistance during our stay at HSBC. We would also like to thank all the respondents who gave their valuable information.

3 |Page

Contents

Contents................................................................................................................ 3 Executive summary...............................................................................................4 Introduction........................................................................................................... 6 The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)..............................................................7 Background of study..............................................................................................8 The current scenario...........................................................................................8 Wealth Management Scenario in India.............................................................12 Process of wealth management...........................................................................14 Key Challenge Areas............................................................................................16 Objectives of study..............................................................................................18 Scope of study..................................................................................................... 18 Limitations of study.............................................................................................18 Research Design..................................................................................................19 Sample Design..................................................................................................19 Data Collection ................................................................................................19 Analysis and Interpretation..................................................................................21 Understanding various Investment options:........................................................29 Various options available for investment:.........................................................30 Every investment has an attached risk.............................................................33 Comparison of HSBC with major players..............................................................35 Company (HSBC) Profile:..................................................................................35 SWOT Analysis of HSBC:......................................................................................42 Analysis and recommendations:..........................................................................44 Bibliography.........................................................................................................49

4 |Page

Executive summary
Wealth Management (WM) is an advanced type of financial planning that provides High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) and families with private financial services, such as asset management, banking, estate planning, investment management, and legal resources. The goal of WM is sustaining and growing long-term wealth of clients. To attract clients towards WM services, it is necessary to understand what influence consumers' decision when selecting WM services. Therefore, the AHP (Analytical Hierarchical Process) decision model is referred for identifying these factors. AHP converts a complex decision problem into a hierarchic structure by dividing the problem into several smaller components. The relative importance of these factors and alternatives are surveyed by directing a questionnaire to consumers who are using, or planning to use WM services. It appears that, in general, customers first concern about the WM service is the quality of service, followed by the products, and the image of the service provider. Further analyses by consumer attributes indicate that HNWIs are particularly concerned about the risk associated with the products offered by the WM service providers. Thus, to attract HNWIs, special attentions should be paid to the design of products with relatively less risk and acceptable returns. This report examines the early history of a new phenomenon wealth management. It discusses whether it really is new, and also explains why the phenomenon has become so important to financial services companies and what they are doing about it. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it discusses the real changes that customers are expecting and should expect in the services, that they are being offered. The feeding frenzy of financial services companies is evident, but consumer enthusiasm is not. This is because of the restrictive definition of wealth management adopted by most of these suppliers, and the lack of clear benefit for the consumer. Thus, this paper attempts to identify the relative importance of factors perceived by potential customers in their WM selection process. This study may lead to a better understanding on the following questions: Do the priority weights of the highnet-worth customers present a different pattern? What should the WM service providers focus on when they try to meet the needs of their target-clients? The report first defines the idea of wealth management and then reviews the well-trodden ground of the evidence of market size. It also helps to understand the various investment

5 |Page

avenues or options that an investor has for managing his/her wealth. It finally goes on to suggest what kind of company is likely to lead the wealth management market in the future by analysing the results obtained from the survey conducted from a sample size of 120 respondents and other relevant secondary data. The survey was conducted in the three shopping malls viz., Panjagutta Central, GVK One, Big Bazaar and at the HSBC bank in Hyderabad. The later part of report helps to understand customers perception towards the branch banking facilities which refers to a location where a bank, credit union or other financial institution (and by extension, brokerage firms) offers a wide array of face-to-face and automated services to its customers. The customers expect a quick and quality service from the bank in each and every transaction apart from improvements in the convenient banking facilities like phone banking and internet banking. The report also highlights the sales experience of CPP (Card Protection Plan) at the HSBC bank. The CPP is a recently launched plan by HSBC meant for protecting important cards like ATM cards, debit and credit cards and other important valuable documents like passport, driving licence, etc., in case it gets lost or any misuse takes place. The suggestions in the report on Branch banking facilities are presented by interviewing the customers, observing them at the tellers (counters) and observing them interacting with relationship managers at HSBC bank, Hyderabad.

6 |Page

Introduction
With rapidly changing business landscape and sophisticated customers, it has become very important that financial institutions understand the factors which are pertinent to the customers selection process. The typical customers can no longer differentiate between one intermediary and another (Boyd, Leonard, & White, 1994). As a result, the competition for customers, both savers and borrowers, could become fierce. Therefore, the institutions must now, more than ever, be cognizant of the customers needs and desires (Graddy & Spencer, 1990). Recommendations were a common criterion in the studies (Martenson, 1985;Tan & Chua, 1986; Zineldin, 1996). Tan and Chua (1986) found that the recommendations of others were strongly influential. Gerrard and Cunningham (1997) suggested that the provision of a fast and efficient service and confidentiality were very strong influences. Stafford (1994) found that customers want courtesy, friendliness and convenience but those consumers also view fair prices, concerned management and institutional stability as integral components of the service process. Khazeh and Decker (1992) indicated that the most important selection criteria were service-charge policy (price), reputation (positioning) and competitiveness of loans rates (price). Boyd, Leonard et al. (1994) argued that some criteria are more important, such as reputation, interest charged on loans, and interest on savings accounts. However, some are less important - friendliness of employees, modern facilities, and drive-in service. Kaynak and Kucukemiroglu (1992) investigated the importance of a series of factors in choosing a commercial bank. Fast and efficient service and friendliness were found to be the most important selection criteria, followed by the efficiency of completing banking transactions and convenience. Following the previous literature, three dimensions of factors are considered which affect customers choice of WM: image, products, and quality of service. Each criterion includes several sub-criteria to profile the dimension. The criteria and sub-criteria are summarized in Table 1(See Appendix). The priority of the criteria could vary with customers characteristics. Therefore, several properties (including gender, nationality, annual income etc) of consumers are considered during the analysis.

7 |Page

The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

AHP is a powerful and flexible tool for multi-attribute decisions making developed by Saaty (1977, 1980). AHP converts a complex decision problem into a hierarchic structure by dividing the problem into several smaller components. AHP has been widely adopted to reflect the importance (weights) of the factors associated with priorities in many fields (Vaidya & Sushil Kumar, 2004; Zahedi, 1986), including patent valuation (Chiu & Chen, 2007), supplier selection (Handfield, Walton, Sroufe, & Melnyk, 2002; Liu & Hai, 2005), purchase decision (Byon, 2001; Israeli, 1998), forest management (Kangas & Kangas, 2005), operations efficiency improvement (Peniwati & Brenner, 2008), land use planning (Ananda & Herath, 2008), waste management (Karamouz, Zahraie, Kerachian, Jaafarzadeh, & Mahjouri, 2007), health care (Liberatore, et al., 2003). There are some applications of AHP in finance (Steuer, 2003; Zopounidis, 1999), such as portfolio management (Meziani & Rezvani, 1990; T. L. Saaty, Rogers, & Pell, 1980), credit evaluation (Yurdakul & Ic, 2004) evaluation of a bank acquisitions strategy (Arbel & Orgler, 1990), investment selection, capital budgeting (Tarimcilar & Khaksari, 1991), and synergy allocation in mergers. In this paper, AHP method is referred for ranking the factors affecting consumers choice of WM services.

8 |Page

Background of study
Wealth Management as a concept originated in the 1990's in the US. In the beginning it was investment advisory covering financial planning that provides individuals with private banking / asset management / taxation advisory and portfolio management. Out of the above mentioned services, portfolio management is common service and most of other services are highly customized. The services include portfolio management and rebalancing, Investment management and strategies, Financing tax advisory and estate planning. In terms of products it includes stocks and stock trading; equity linked and structured savings products, mutual funds and alternative investments. A person may wish to save money for his childrens education or for buying a home. He would be planning for his retirement and worried about the transfer of pension in a new city. Whatever is his need, Wealth management service provider may provide great help and assistance. It can help to choose the right financial strategies and plans to create wealth now and preserve wealth for the future. Wealth management services can help for all of financial goals through the relevant investment options and it can assist to make the right financial decisions. If his goal is associated with wealth creation, they can help him to get his money to work for by providing comprehensive and relevant information regarding various investments. If the goal is saving, they can advice him regarding various saving tools through insurance or simple bank savings account.

The current scenario

The wealth management marketplace is evolving with the expansion of an affluent client pool and increased competition created through mergers, acquisitions and the introduction of nontraditional players. Wealth managers are setting business goals that require innovative technology solutions to help increase sales, reduce costs, retain existing clients and attract new ones. They are increasingly coordinating processes around their customers. They have long since realized the need to carefully evaluate and quickly deploy the right technology solutions to garner competitive advantage in the market. The considerations to create or

9 |Page

strengthen a customer-centric model are complex, but most firms have recognized that longterm success is determined by an organizations ability to deliver customer-centric products and services. Wealthy individuals have multiple and complex financial needs. Banks geared to meet their needs build long-term relationships in which advice, as opposed to products and transactions, is the focus. These banks establish multiple touch points with clients and typically benefit from enduring client loyalty and their predisposition towards referrals to prospective clients. The primary differentiators are advisory capabilities, product breadth, and facilitation of customer ease and convenience. The spectrum of offerings is spreading and the scope of services is widening significantly. A quick glimpse reveals the following:

Delivery channels: Anywhere and anytime through branch / call centre / online. Personalized services: Advisory services, relationship managers and financial planning experts to manage accounts and plan financial goals. Investment tools for customers and their financial planners to manage wealth: Analyze portfolio, rebalance portfolio against model portfolio, portfolio simulation and what-if tools.

Product types: Traditional banking, traditional investment products and alternate investments. Straight through Processing: End-to-end transaction processing for investments. Tax planning: Country-specific tax and social security One-stop financial shop: Interface with market data vendors, banks, depositories, clearing houses, custodians and brokerage houses. Concierge services: Lifestyle related value-added services. Customized views and reports: Portfolio specific or across portfolios. Consolidated view: Complete financial picture in one screen. Strict adherence: Financial regulation, compliance and other country-specific mandates.

Wealth management clients are demanding comprehensive and tailored services, with bespoke investment options. They are also keen to maintain relationships with multiple banks, to compare offerings and opt for the best. Banks are sparing no efforts to strategically

10 | P a g e

transform their product offerings and services, while revamping their technology infrastructure to differentiate themselves from competition. The wealth management space is now being catered to by different types of firms including brokers, private banks, retail banks and insurance houses, and all of them are vying for the same clients - the booming mass affluent segment and the high net worth segment. Wealth management firms are making strategic investments to differentiate themselves in the eyes of existing and would-be high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients. Insurance firms, brokerage service firms and retail banks are investing heavily on the advisor centric model and each one is trying to be the chosen wealth manager for the retirement segment as well as for the younger generations. This has resulted in direct competition in a space dominated, till recently by private banks and trusts. As a result, each of these players is looking at how best to differentiate its offerings. Clearly, then, as wealth management firms increasingly compete for the same high net worth clients, and clients themselves become more demanding, the pressure is on firms to understand the essence of client needs in existing and growth markets, even if they have already developed an accurate understanding of high net worth individuals in their established markets. Without this insight, firms will find it difficult to develop an attractive proposition. As a result, banks are moving away from the conventional pure product focus and focusing on total solutions that are completely oriented to client needs. Strategic business model On one hand, there are a small number of large global banks that have implemented integrated business models spanning across typical banking and investment products and services. On the other hand, there exist specialized wealth management boutique firms providing sophisticated products, specialized services and niche area services for specific customer segments. Both extremes showcase examples of successful high margin and high growth players. Specialized wealth management firms catering to the high net worth segment have known for years that in this space one model do not fit all. Retail banks pushing into the wealthy segment a mix of the mass affluent and high net worth, have realized that it is almost mandatory to design a service model flexible enough in architecture to accommodate diverse customer- and advisor-centric models. It implies, in a larger sense that banks have to

11 | P a g e

invest heavily in the underlying technology. At a very high level the models currently deployed are: Transactions Investment management and Wealth planning

Based on the conditions and the market environment a bank can choose to mix and match these models.

The transactions model includes pure play brokers who facilitate investments in basic asset classes, and product experts driving transactions through sophisticated products.

The investment management model includes advisors and relationship managers who plan, determine and advise customers in the pre- and post-investment phase. The wealth planning model offers holistic advice in accordance with clients finances and goals. These could encompass arenas such as real estate, retirement and generational wealth transfer.

The chosen model has a direct impact on the revenue model for a bank in terms of fees and commissions. The transaction model is typically fee-based and moves towards commissionbased revenue for wealth planning. Revenue drivers Retail banks are establishing themselves in a space traditionally dominated by private banks and niche service providers, in order to handle the booming mass affluent segment and the lower end of the high net worth segment. The typical model on view is the distribution model with end-to-end services across the banking and investment domains. Banks have identified key revenue drivers as: Revenue from distribution (third party products) Commission on transaction-based revenue (from execution broker)

12 | P a g e

Revenue from advisory services Cross-sell opportunities to existing customers

Product manufacturing and revenue based on assets under management would be the way forward for banks.

Wealth Management Scenario in India

The wealth management industry in India is experiencing an evolutionary phase of development. With the liberalization of the Indian economy and subsequent growth and prosperity across sectors, the wealth management industry is poised to gain greater traction in an expanding market. In a new report, Overview of the Indian Wealth Management Market, Celent examines how the wealth management industry is enhancing its relevance in this dynamic marketplace. According to the report, India is slated to become a US$1 trillion market (in assets under management) for wealth management providers by 2012, with a target market size of 42 million households. The client segmentation schema (as per the reports of Celent), promises growth across all the six categories:

Ultra-high net worth, or Ultra-HNW (in excess of US$30 million), will have a total population of 10,500 households by 2012. Super high net worth (between US$10 and $30 million) will have a total population of 42,000 households by 2012. High net worth (between US$1 million and $10 million) will have a total population of 320,000 by 2012. Super affluent (between US$125,000 and $1 million) will have a total population of 350,000 households by 2012. Mass affluent (between US$25,000 and $125,000) will have a total population of 1.8 million households by 2012. Mass market (between US$5,000 and $25,000) will have a total population of 39 million households by 2012.

13 | P a g e

Figure 1

According to investment banking firm Barclays Capital survey of Asia's leading wealth managers, India is the second most attractive market for wealth management after China, even as revenue growth in this sector in Asia is expected to fall significantly over the next two years. A new report from independent market analyst Data monitor (DTML) reveals the Indian wealth market is offering competitors enormous opportunities. In the last five years, affluent wealth in India has grown at a rate of 17.6% with affluent individuals totaling 618,000 at the end of 2007. Indias large skilled population and robust domestic stock market will ensure that this wealth continues to grow to almost one million individuals, with a collective wealth of over US $ 200bn by 2012. The Indian market has a wide variety of financial institutions servicing the mass affluent and HNW segments. This includes brokerages, asset management companies, insurance agencies,

14 | P a g e

independent financial advisers and private banks. While recent entrants into the Indian wealth management space, such as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Barclays Capital are solely focused on the HNW segment, banks such as Standard Chartered, HSBC and Kotak target both the HNW and the mass affluent segments. The major players offering wealth management service in India can be categorized into four major segments: Foreign banks- HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citibank, RBS, Deutsche bank, Barclays, etc. Indian banks- ICICI, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, UBI, etc. Security firms- Anand Rathi, Motilal Oswal, Religare, IIFL, etc. Independent firms- ASK wealth advisors, etc.

Process of wealth management

Generally most of the companies follow the same process to offer wealth management services. It starts from assigning a wealth manager or relationship manager to the clients. The major roles of the wealth manager include assisting clients on the three major areas: Accumulation (Asset management), Preservation (Life Insurance), and Distribution (Estate planning). A good wealth manager should take into the consideration the tax implications in each of these areas. The job of the wealth manager starts with gathering data about the current financial situation of the clients and ends with review of the financial plan. The personal financial planning process as per FPSB-India (Financial Planning Standards Board) consists of the following six steps: 1. Establish and define the client-planner relationship: The personal financial planner should clearly explain and document the services that he or she will provide to client and define both his/her and Clients responsibilities during the personal financial planning engagement. The personal financial planner should explain fully how he or she will be paid and by whom. Client and the planner should agree on how long the professional relationship should last and on how decisions will be made.

15 | P a g e

2. Gather client data, including goals: The personal financial planner should ask for information about Clients financial situation. Client and the planner should mutually define Clients personal and financial goals, understand Clients time frame for results and discuss, if relevant, how client feel about risk. 3. Analyze and evaluate Clients financial status: The personal financial planner should analyze Clients information to assess Clients current situation and determine what client must do to meet Clients goals. Depending on what services client have asked for, this could include analyzing Clients assets, liabilities and cash flow, current insurance coverage, investments or tax strategies. 4. Develop and present financial planning recommendations and/or alternatives: The personal financial planner should offer financial planning recommendations that address Clients goals, based on the information client provide. The planner should go over the recommendations with client to help client understand them so that client can make informed decisions. The planner should also listen to Clients concerns and revise the recommendations as appropriate. 5. Implement the financial planning recommendations Client and the personal financial planner should agree on how the recommendations will be carried out. The planner may carry out the recommendations or serve as Clients coach, coordinating the process with client and other professionals such as attorneys, accountants or stockbrokers. 6. Monitor the financial planning recommendations: Client and the personal financial planner should agree on who will monitor Clients progress towards Clients goals. If the planner is in charge of the process, he or she should report to client periodically to review Clients situation and adjust the recommendations, if needed, as Clients life changes.

16 | P a g e

Key Challenge Areas

While immense business potentiality of this emerging sector is a driving point for most of the firms, they may face many challenges in formulating winning services offerings meeting the client needs. The following can be some of the key challenges in the present context.

Highly Personalized and Customized Services- Unlike other stream of financial services, mostly being transactional / commoditized in nature, wealth management services require client specific solution and service offering. No one solution exactly meets the needs of other client. In a situation of highly personalized and customized nature of service offering, developing any form of generic service model does not support growth of the business.

Personal relationship driving the business- To meet client expectation of personal attention, mode of communication in wealth management services tends to be highly personalized. Success of wealth management services heavily draws on personal interaction with the dedicated relationship manager, who takes care of whole investment management lifecycle for bunch of clients on one-to-one basis.

Evolving Client Profile- The biggest challenge in providing wealth management service offering is to factor and reckon the evolving nature of client profile, in terms of investment objective, time horizon, risk appetite and so on.

Intricate Knowledge of Cross-functional domain-By very nature of wealth management, it not just involves matters of plain vanilla finance but has intricate relationship with many elements of domestic / international law, taxation and regulatory norms.

Technical Architecture and Technology Investment- As business architecture is still evolving, a proven basis of resilient technical architecture and framework to support the emerging business greatly remains missing. In absence of this framework,

17 | P a g e

any

investment

commitment

towards

application

development

system

implementation would be fraught with severe risk.

18 | P a g e

Objectives of study
To understand customers perception towards wealth management services and branch banking facilities. To compare various firms offering wealth management services. To understand various investment options available for the investors and the associated risk(s) with investment.

Scope of study
The study mainly deals with understanding consumers perception towards wealth management service providers and branch banking facilities and it also highlights their post recession thoughts regarding wealth management. Further it helps to understand the major investment options for an investor for managing his wealth based on which a comparative analysis of HSBC with other major wealth management firms has been done. The comparison has been done with four major players in each category, viz., Foreign Banks, Indian Banks, and Security Firms. The study also presents a sales report on HSBCs CPP (Card Protection Plan) and observation of customers behavior towards branch banking facilities of HSBC bank.

Limitations of study

The convenient sample used in this study may not be representative of the entire population. Although special attention had been paid to consider the possible influence of various consumer attributes, a larger and more representative sample may be needed to confirm and generalize the results before they can be applied in practice.

The study is limited to the city of Hyderabad. The study can provide insights based on the current consumer trends only, and results may not be applicable in a different period of time.

19 | P a g e

Research Design
The present research is a combination of both exploratory and descriptive research. Exploratory research was carried out to gain insights about the major players offering the wealth management services and various investment options for the customers. After gathering the required information, the descriptive research was carried out in form a survey in the three shopping malls and the HSBC bank in Hyderabad. The AHP (Analytical Hierarchical Process) method has been referred to know the major attributes for selecting a wealth management service provider. Majority of the questions are close ended. Other scaling techniques used in the survey are a five point Likert scale, and a five point rating scale.

Sample Design

Target Population: The target population includes people who are using banking facilities. There are many ways for managing wealth viz., through banks, through security firms and few people also manage their wealth by themselves. As this study is done from a bankers perspective so the target population is chosen as people using banking facilities.

Sampling technique: Convenient Sampling has been used to collect the data. In this kind of sampling a sample of population is selected because it is readily available and convenient for the researcher to get the data. Sample size: A sample size of 120 has been chosen for the study.

Data Collection
The study is conducted in two phases: In the first phase, interviews with branch managers and relationship managers of major wealth management service providers were conducted to understand the process of wealth management of their respective firms and their major product offerings for wealth management. Some of the institutions visited include: Standard Chartered, ICICI, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ASK Wealth Advisors, Indiabulls

20 | P a g e

Securities, IIFL etc. In the second phase, a survey was conducted among 120 customers by administering questionnaires who were using banking facilities. The questionnaire covered both the aspects: wealth management and branch banking (appendix 1). Table 2(See Appendix) displays the sample distribution. Among all respondents, 85 percent are males and 15 percent are females; 85 percent are Indians and rest 15 percent are NRIs; Majority of the respondents (forty six percent) fall under the annual income bracket of Rs 5 to 10 lacs.

21 | P a g e

Analysis and Interpretation

1. From the sample surveyed, it was found that almost all the respondents were associated with more than one bank for their banking needs. The below figure 2, shows the composition of customers banking with various banks for their banking needs. It is apparent from the figure that majority of the customers are associated with HDFC bank followed by ICICI and HSBC. Other banks which include Axis bank, RBS, SBH and Kotak Mahindra bank also represents a major part of the population.

2. The below chart shows that the primary banker for majority of the respondents is HDFC. Primary banker here means that the bank with which the respondents have their major dealings with. HDFC bank is followed by HSBC for acting as primary banker for the respondents. Other banks also occupy the same place in serving as a primary banker. The chart also shows that SBI and Standard Chartered are the primary banker of very meager (only five percent) of the sample population.

22 | P a g e

3. The respondents were asked to rate the attributes given in the table on a scale of 1 to 5(1 meaning least important to 5 meaning most important). The following table shows the mean score along with variance and standard deviation obtained for the various attributes for selecting a bank.

Table 3. Attributes for selecting a bank

Attributes Brand name Convenient Banking Number of branches Number of ATMs Ambience Quick and quality service Attractive interest rate Working hours Offers Mean score 3.83 4.25 3.48 3.90 3.32 4.53 3.72 3.97 3.10 Variance 1.62 1.23 1.70 1.50 1.19 0.62 1.55 1.01 1.67 Standard deviation 1.27 1.11 1.30 1.23 1.09 0.79 1.24 1.00 1.29

23 | P a g e

From the above table it is clear that first preference for choosing a bank by any customer depends on the quick and quality service provided by the bank. The next major factor for choosing a bank is convenient banking facilities like internet banking, phone banking, etc. The other major factors for selecting a bank in the order of their importance are: Working hours, Number of ATMs, Brand name, Attractive interest rate, Number of branches. Ambience and Offers do not play an important role in luring a customer towards a bank.

4. The following figure shows that only about half of the respondents were aware of the wealth management services.

5. The figure below shows the preference of financial institution for using wealth

management services. Majority of the respondents feel that it is better to use wealth management services of the banks rather than the security firms. Moreover, 76 percent of the respondents feel that it is better to use the wealth management services of the same bank with which they are banking with.

24 | P a g e

In providing wealth management services as well HDFC takes the lead as 32 percent of the respondents prefer HDFC bank for using wealth management services. HSBC occupies second position in providing wealth management services as is evident from 28 percent of the respondents, who prefer using wealth management services of HSBC bank. The figure 6 below shows the detailed description of customers preference of the banks especially for using wealth management services.

25 | P a g e

6.

Table 2 given below shows the importance of the attributes given by the respondents for selecting a wealth management service firm. The respondents were asked to rate the attributes given in the table on a scale of 1 to 5(1 meaning least important to 5 meaning most important). The following table also shows the mean score along with variance and standard deviation obtained for the various attributes for selecting wealth management service provider.

Table 4. Attributes for choosing a wealth management service firm Mean score 3.97 4.24 3.48 3.83 4.31 3.97 3.66 Standard deviation 1.20 0.86 1.29 1.27 1.03 1.17 1.22

Attributes Brand name Quality of R.M.* Number of branches More product offerings Quick and quality service Low brokerage Attractive interest rate

Variance 1.44 0.75 1.66 1.62 1.06 1.37 1.49

26 | P a g e

* R.M. means relationship manager

It is clear from the above table that again for selecting a wealth management service firm, quick and quality service is the most important criteria followed by quality of relationship managers. Low brokerage and Brand name are the other two major factors considered as important for selecting a wealth management firm. It is important to note that people are not very much concerned about the number of branches when it comes to selecting a wealth management firm.

7. It is interesting to note that majority of the respondents are satisfied with their

preferred wealth management firms. Figure 7 below gives the satisfaction levels of the customers regarding their preferred wealth management firms. The figure below shows that 73 percent of respondents are agree that they are satisfied with their referred wealth management firm and only 17 percent strongly agree with this. So still there is a large scope for improvement in terms of service offerings of wealth management firms.

27 | P a g e 8.

The recent global recession impacted all the investors all around the world. When asked about the impact of recession on the customers wealth management a mixed response came up. Almost half of the sample said there has been a change in their wealth management process after recession and the rest half said the opposite. It can be due to the conservative approach followed by the wealth management firms.

9. The following figure 9 helps to understand post recession thoughts of the respondents.

28 | P a g e

From the above figure it is clear that after recession people are more inclined towards the Indian banks as during these Indian banks were least affected by recession. People have also turned towards less aggressive investment options for managing their wealth.

29 | P a g e

Understanding various Investment options:

The money you earn is partly spent and the rest saved for meeting future expenses. Instead of keeping the savings idle you may like to use savings in order to get return on it in the future. This is called Investment . Why should one invest? One needs to invest to: earn return on the idle resources generate a specified sum of money for a specific goal in life make a provision for an uncertain future

One of the important reasons why one needs to invest wisely is to meet the cost of Inflation. Inflation is the rate at which the cost of living increases. The cost of living is simply what it costs to buy the goods and services you need to live. Inflation causes money to lose value because it will not buy the same amount of a good or a service in the future as it does now or did in the past. For example, if there was a 6% inflation rate for the next 20 years, a Rs. 100 purchase today would cost Rs. 321 in 20 years. This is why it is important to consider inflation as a factor in any long-term investment strategy. Remember to look at an investment's 'real' rate of return, which is the return after inflation. The aim of investments should be to provide a return above the inflation rate to ensure that the investment does not decrease in value. For example, if the annual inflation rate is 6%, then the investment will need to earn more than 6% to ensure it increases in value. If the after-tax return on your investment is less than the inflation rate, then your assets have actually decreased in value; that is, they won't buy as much today as they did last year. When to start Investing? The sooner one starts investing the better. By investing early you allow your investments more time to grow, whereby the concept of compounding (as we shall see later) increases

30 | P a g e

your income, by accumulating the principal and the interest or dividend earned on it, year after year. The three golden rules for all investors are: Invest early Invest regularly Invest for long term and not short term

Various options available for investment:

Physical assets like real estate, gold/jewellery, commodities etc. and/or Financial assets such as fixed deposits with banks, small saving instruments with post offices, insurance/provident/pension fund etc. or securities market related instruments like shares, bonds, debentures etc.

Various Short-term financial options available for investment: Broadly speaking, savings bank account, money market/liquid funds and fixed deposits with banks may be considered as short-term financial investment options:

Savings Bank Account is often the first banking product people use, which offers low interest (4%-5% p.a.), making them only marginally better than fixed deposits.

Money Market or Liquid Funds are a specialized form of mutual funds that invest in extremely short-term fixed income instruments and thereby provide easy liquidity. Unlike most mutual funds, money market funds are primarily oriented towards protecting your capital and then, aim to maximise returns. Money market funds usually yield better returns than savings accounts, but lower than bank fixed deposits.

Fixed Deposits with Banks are also referred to as term deposits and minimum investment period for bank FDs is 30 days. Fixed Deposits with banks are for investors with low risk appetite, and may be considered for 6-12 months investment period as normally interest on less than 6 months bank FDs is likely to be lower than money market fund returns.

31 | P a g e

Various Long-term financial options available for investment:

Post Office Savings: Post Office Monthly Income Scheme is a low risk saving instrument, which can be availed through any post office. It provides an interest rate of 8% per annum, which is paid monthly. Minimum amount, which can be invested, is Rs. 1,000/- and additional investment in multiples of 1,000/-. Maximum amount is Rs. 3,00,000/- (if Single) or Rs. 6,00,000/- (if held Jointly) during a year. It has a maturity period of 6 years. Premature withdrawal is permitted if deposit is more than one year old. A deduction of 5% is levied from the principal amount if withdrawn prematurely.

Public Provident Fund: A long term savings instrument with a maturity of 15 years and interest payable at 8% per annum compounded annually. A PPF account can be opened through a nationalized bank at anytime during the year and is open all through the year for depositing money. Tax benefits can be availed for the amount invested and interest accrued is tax-free. A withdrawal is permissible every year from the seventh financial year of the date of opening of the account and the amount of withdrawal will be limited to 50% of the balance at credit at the end of the 4th year immediately preceding the year in which the amount is withdrawn or at the end of the preceding year whichever is lower the amount of loan if any.

Company Fixed Deposits: These are short-term (six months) to medium-term (three to five years) borrowings by companies at a fixed rate of interest which is payable monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. They can also be cumulative fixed deposits where the entire principal along with the interest is paid at the end of the loan period. The rate of interest varies between 6-9% per annum for company FDs. The interest received is after deduction of taxes.

Bonds: It is a fixed income (debt) instrument issued for a period of more than one year with the purpose of raising capital. The central or state government, corporations and similar institutions sell bonds. A bond is generally a promise to repay the principal along with a fixed rate of interest on a specified date, called the Maturity Date.

32 | P a g e

Mutual Funds: These are funds operated by an investment company which raises money from the public and invests in a group of assets (shares, debentures etc.), in accordance with a stated set of objectives. It is a substitute for those who are unable to invest directly in equities or debt because of resource, time or knowledge constraints. Benefits include professional money management, buying in small amounts and diversification. Mutual fund units are issued and redeemed by the Fund Management Company based on the fund's net asset value (NAV), which is determined at the end of each trading session. NAV is calculated as the value of all the shares held by the fund, minus expenses, divided by the number of units issued. Mutual Funds are usually long term investment vehicle though there some categories of mutual funds, such as money market mutual funds which are short term instruments.

Equity Shares: It gives the maximum returns over the long term. The funds can be invested for at least five years. There are two ways in which one can invest in equities1. Through the secondary market (by buying shares that are listed on the stock exchanges). 2. Through the primary market (by applying for shares that are offered to the public). Over the long term, equity shares have offered the maximum return to investors. As an investment option, investing in equity shares is also perceived to carry a high level of risk.

Alternative Investment: An alternative investment is an investment product other

than traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, cash or property. The term is most commonly used to describe investments in tangible assets such as Art, Wine, Antiques, Coins or Stamps but may include some financial assets such as commodities. Privat equity and hedge funds are also sometimes called alternative investments and the term is a relatively loose one. The Merrill Lynch/Cap Gemini Ernst & Young World Wealth Report 2003, based on 2002 data, showed high net worth individuals, as defined in the report, to have 10% of their financial assets in alternative investments.

33 | P a g e

Every investment has an attached risk

Just buy this blue-chip stock, there's no risk at all. For most people who invest in shares there is a good chance that we've heard someone say this before. For most people who just put their money away in bonds or deposits, one of the main reasons for this probably is I don't want to take any risk at all, I just want my money safe. Are these statements true? Is investing in bonds or deposits completely risk-free? Or investing in blue-chip stocks necessarily very low risk? NO. Whenever more than one outcome is possible from an investment, there is always some amount of risk. Only the level of risk is different. Use risk to analyze expected returns while investing, risk is measured to evaluate the kind of returns you should expect from the investment. Or your return expectations should be based on the level of risk you can bear. In principle, the higher the risk, the higher the returns that should be required. Empirically returns across various asset classes show that investment in equity shares give the highest level of returns in the long-term, followed by corporate bonds and deposits and lastly bank deposits and government debt. Not surprisingly, the level of risk is also in the same order. You might be saying - how can debt be risky? It is. Companies that run into financial trouble could delay your interest payments or even default on paying back your money. Even government debt has some amount of risk. How? Simply put, governments like companies also face the risk of financial problems. However, lack of funds for a company could result in the company defaulting on a loan repayment. But a government can always print more currency and repay its borrowings. So you will get your money back. BUT, there is a hidden cost (risk). Printing more currency is likely to lead to higher inflation and hence lower real returns on your investment. Agreed that the chances of governments or well-managed companies getting into serious financial troubles are low, but that is only difference in the level of risk. There is a risk attached, and that cannot be questioned. The below figure gives an idea about the risk associated with the investment options discussed.

34 | P a g e

Figure 10: Risk Vs Return

Source: Central Bank of Malaysia April 2007 HNWIs are well-informed of present and approaching economic conditions and quickly reallocate their portfolios to capitalize on market trends. The figure given below highlights the allocation of assets by the HNWIs by a survey carried by Capgemini and Merril Lynch. In 2006, HNWIs, overall, shifted their allocations from alternative investments, which includes hedge funds, structured products, foreign currencies, commodities, private equity/venture capital and derivatives, to seek high returns from real estate opportunities.

35 | P a g e

Figure 11. HNWIs allocation of financial assets

Comparison of HSBC with major players

Company (HSBC) Profile:

About HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a financial services corporation incorporated in the United Kingdom in 1990 following its name change from The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and headquartered in London, United Kingdom since 1993. As of 2010, it is both the world's largest banking and financial services group and the world's 8th largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine. Hong Kong served as the bank's headquarters until 1992 when it moved to London as a condition of completing the acquisition of Midland Bank and as the handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty approached. Today, whilst no single geographical area dominates the group's earnings, Hong Kong still continues to be a significant source of its income. Recent acquisitions and expansion in China are returning HSBC to part of its roots. HSBC has an enormous

36 | P a g e

operational base in Asia and significant lending, investment, and insurance activities around the world. The company has a global reach and financial fundamentals matched by few other banking or financial multinationals. HSBC is listed on the London, New York, Hong Kong, Paris and Bermuda Stock Exchanges, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and the Hang Seng Index. HSBC in India The antecedents of the HSBC Group in India can be traced back to October 1853 when the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China was founded in Bombay (now Mumbai). Starting with an authorised capital of Rs 5 million, the Mercantile Bank soon opened offices in London, Madras(Chennai), Colombo and Kandy, followed by Calcutta(Kolkata), Singapore, Hong Kong, Canton(Guangchow) and Shanghai by 1855. The following hundred years were in many ways propitious for the Mercantile Bank. In 1950 it moved into its new head office building in Mumbai.at Flora Fountain. The acquisition in 1959 by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited of the Mercantile Bank was a decisive factor in laying the foundation for today's HSBC Group. Founded in 1865 to serve the needs of the merchants of the China coast and finance the growing trade between China, Europe and the United States, HSBC has been an international bank from its earliest days. After the Mercantile Bank was acquired by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Flora Fountain building became and remains to this day, the Head Office of the HSBC Group in India. HSBC in India is proud to have retained the Group's pioneering streak by being an active partner in the development of the Indian banking industry - even giving India its first ATM way back in 1987. The organisation's adaptability, resilience and commitment to its customers have further enabled it to survive through turbulent times and prosper through good times over the past 150 years.

Mission Statement/Statement of Values Group Business Principles and Values The HSBC Group is committed to five Core Business Principles:

37 | P a g e

Outstanding customer service; Effective and efficient operations; Strong capital and liquidity; Prudent lending policy; Strict expense discipline;

HSBC also operates according to certain Key Business Values:

The highest personal standards of integrity at all levels; Commitment to truth and fair dealing; Hands-on management at all levels; Openly esteemed commitment to quality and competence; A minimum of bureaucracy; Fast decisions and implementation; Putting the teams interests ahead of the individual's; The appropriate delegation of authority with accountability; Fair and objective employer; A diverse team underpinned by a meritocratic approach to recruitment/promotion; A commitment to complying with the spirit and letter of all laws and regulations wherever it conducts its business; The exercise of corporate social responsibility through detailed assessments of lending proposals and investments, the promotion of good environmental practice and sustainable development, and commitment to the welfare and development of each local community.

Based on the above principles of HSBC and various investment options as discussed in the earlier section of the report, a comparison of HSBC with other major players has been done based on their product offerings. Moreover, since almost all the firms carry out the same procedure in serving the clients for wealth management so the comparison has been done only taking in to the consideration their major product offerings. The comparison has been done under the three major categories: Foreign banks, Indian banks and Security firms. The following tables show the comparative analysis of HSBC with the major players in each of the above segments based on their product propositions for wealth management.

38 | P a g e

HSBC Vs Foreign Banks HSBC Mutual Funds SIPs Equities Derivatives Commodities Foreign Currency Investment Hedge Funds Real Estate Estate planning Insurance Products Lending DEMAT A/c Endowment policies Bank Deposits Alternate Asset Products Margin Trading STANDARD CHARTERED CITIBANK DEUTSCHE RBS

39 | P a g e

Structured Products ETFs Venture Capital Plans Global Investments Bonds Money market funds Tax relief investments

HSBC Vs Indian Banks

HSBC ICICI HDFC AXIS BANK KOTAK MAHINDR A BANK

Mutual Funds SIPs Equities Derivatives Commoditi es Foreign Currency Investment Hedge Funds Real Estate Estate planning

40 | P a g e Insurance Products Lending DEMAT A/c Endowment policies Bank Deposits Alternate Asset Products Margin Trading Structured Products ETFs Venture Capital Plans Global Investment s Bonds Money market funds Tax relief investment s

Table 3. HSBC Vs Security Firms

HSBC Mutual RELIGARE ANAND RATHI MOTILAL OSWAL INDIA INFOLINE

41 | P a g e Funds SIPs Equities Derivatives Commoditie s Foreign Currency Investment Hedge Funds Real Estate Estate planning Insurance Products Lending DEMAT A/c Endowment policies Bank Deposits Alternate Asset Products Margin Trading Structured Products ETFs Venture Capital Plans Global Investments Bonds

42 | P a g e Money market funds Tax relief investments

SWOT Analysis of HSBC:

Strengths

World's largest (based on a composite score, Forbes) and most profitable banking corporation. HSBC was named the world's most valuable banking brand by The Banker magazine, February 2008. Highest international presence: 128 million customers worldwide. London & New York listing: Prestige and visibility. Access to UK and US capital markets for future capital raising.

The bank is well capitalised. It is well known in banking circles for its conservative and risk-averse approach in its business operations and this has enabled it to perform relatively well against other banks in recent economic events.

The bank has a strong presence in emerging markets, putting it in a good position to take advantage of future growth in those economies. The banks global presence in Europe, Asia and South America helps to spread risk and offers significant economies of scale. Despite rebranding relatively recently (1999), the HSBC brand has become wellestablished and is considered particularly valuable within the industry.

Weaknesses

The bank was involved with sub-prime markets in the US and has had to write off large figures lent to high-risk borrowers. Despite falls in the UK interest rate, HSBC has increased its mortgage rates. This may be perceived negatively by borrowers and potential borrowers, adds pressure to an

43 | P a g e

already depressed housing market and could ultimately lead to more defaulting as borrowers struggle with higher repayments.

HSBC has recently suffered a series of headline-making incidents in which some customer data were allegedly leaked or simply went missing. Although the consequences turned out to be small, the embarrassing effect on the group's image did not go unnoticed. (The Guardian, April 2008).

Customers complaining about the hidden charges in the transactions. HSBCs branding emphasises its global presence, and this may be seen negatively by some customers in its implication of homogenisation and lack of personalisation.

Opportunities

HSBCs high level of capitalisation places it in a strong position to acquire assets. HSBC also has adequate capital to purchase stronger banks such as Bank Ekonomi in Indonesia, in which it has purchased a stake to continue its Asian expansion despite challenging economic times.

HSBCs generally strong position presents the opportunity to outperform competitors during the economic downturn and to build a reputation for being one of the safer banks for depositors, helping to increase resources for lending.

Non-Resident Indians represent a large asset to foreign banks. Currently the NRI population all over the world is about more than 24 millions. So this segment of population can also be targeted.

Threats

Trust in banks has decreased due to financial losses suffered by investors, who may be more inclined to invest elsewhere. Financial losses affecting banks and investors on a global scale have resulted in less credit being available to customers. In the UK this is coupled with increases in living costs resulting in less money being saved.

The falling property market has created a rise in numbers of homeowners with negative equity. If a property is worth less than was borrowed to finance its purchase, there is little likelihood that the bank will recoup all its losses if owners default.

Increased intensity of competition from local and global players.

44 | P a g e

Analysis and recommendations:

1. Since HSBC is known for its conservative approach so the limited product offerings for its wealth management services is justified. So by the comparative analysis done its limited product offerings is justified. But looking at the allocation of assets as highlighted by the capegemnini report in figure 11, it can be found that HNWIs are also favoring the alternative investment. So HSBC should also consider various alternative investments for wealth management.
2. Quality of Service Level - Quality of service level provided by the bank would the

key determinant of growth and success in client acquisition, client satisfaction and client retention aspects. In a sense, service offering could be developed in the form of partnership with the client based on trust and integrity, where the relationship manager remains highly responsive to client sensitivities and expectations.
3. Investment in People Processes- As relationship manager remains the face of the

firm to a client, success of the firm would be greatly dependent on the skills, drive and enthusiasm of relationship managers (to take an extra mile), while bonding and dealing with any of client issues.
4. Universal service offering- To meet the client needs in holistic manner, product and

service offering range of the firm should be wide enough to cover the investment spectrum across its lifecycle. In an ideal situation, a client would expect to deal with a single firm to get complete range of investment management services. However, for various business considerations of the service provider firm, in many situations it may not be a viable proposition to offer those services.
5. Branding- Branding has always been important in attracting and retaining clients,

now likely to get more attention going forward. From the survey conducted also, brand is an important criterion for selecting a wealth management firm. In branding, the important features to be addressed are familiarity, positioning, differentiation and emotional attachment.
6. Awareness- An important point that emerged from the survey is the lack of

awareness about wealth management. So HSBC should take the lead in creating

45 | P a g e

awareness about wealth management. This would help the bank in acquiring more clients. 7. Number of branches- From the survey it was found that number of branches of a firm is not an important criterion for selecting a wealth management firm. So as long as people are getting quality service from the bank it is not necessary to consider expansion in terms on number of branches. However, for selecting a bank the customers feel that number of branches is one of the important criteria. So the bank may consider expanding its branch based on the cost benefit feasibility for the convenience of the customers. 8. Working hours. It is not a major criterion in choosing a wealth management firm but when it comes to selecting a bank for it is one of the important factors. So the current working hours of the bank i.e., 10 am to 4 pm can be increased. This would probably help in cross selling. As if the bank is operating after the office hours, more customers would come personally to the bank rather than sending their assistant. 9. Sales of CPP (Card Protection Plan)- Although this plan starts just for an annual charge of Rs 995, still the customers were not showing an interest in opting for this plan despite its added benefits. This shows that today customers have become more prudent. Out of more than eighty leads generated for the CPP only five to six got converted in to final deal. Thus for attracting the customers bank can come up with more innovative products which can take care of customers needs in more holistic manner. 10. Credit card department- Though the satisfaction levels of the customers regarding the bank seemed fairly good, the customers were disgruntled by the credit card department and phone banking facilities of the bank. So care must be taken to improve the facilities in these departments immediately as many of the clients were of the opinion of terminating their entire dealings with HSBC entirely due to these two basic reasons.

46 | P a g e

APPENDIX Questionnaire
Age: Gender: Male Female Nationality: Indian NRI
1. Which bank(s) you are currently banking with? (You can tick more than one if

applicable). If you have an account otherwise move to Question no. 3). A. Citi Bank C. HDFC E. ICICI G. Andhra Bank

in more than one bank, proceed to next question B. Standard Chartered D. HSBC F. SBI H. Other (Please Specify)......................

2. From the above mentioned banks, your primary banker is................................

3. Kindly rate the following on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being least important to 5 being most important) for your preference of selecting a bank. A B C D E F G H I Attributes Brand name Convenient banking facilities(like phone banking,internet banking,etc) Number of branches Number of ATMs Ambience Quick and quality service Attractive rate of interest Working hours Offers Rating ( 1-5)

4. Are you aware of the Wealth Management services? If yes, please proceed to next

question; otherwise go to Question no. 11. Yes No

47 | P a g e

5. Which financial institution do you prefer for managing your wealth? Please put a tick or specify. A. Banks-Citi Bank, HDFC, HSBC, ICICI, Other (specify).................................... B. Security firms-Motilal Oswal, Anand Rathi, Religare, Other (Specify)..............

6. Do you prefer using the Wealth Management services of the same bank you are banking with? Yes No

7. Kindly rate the following on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being least important to 5 being most important) for your preference of choosing a firm for managing your wealth. A B C D E F G Attributes Brand name Quality of Relationship manager Number of branches More product offerings Quick and Quality service Low brokerage or service charge High interest rate Rating ( 1-5)

8. You are satisfied with the wealth management services of your preferred firm. A. Strongly Agree B. Agree C. Neither Agree nor Disagree D. Disagree E. Strongly Disagree

9. Has there been a change in your approach towards wealth management after recession? Yes No

10. Tick the following (whichever is/are applicable) that represents your post recession thought regarding wealth management.

48 | P a g e

A. More inclined towards Indian Banks

B. More inclined towards foreign banks

C. More inclined towards security firms D. Less aggressive investment E. Cautious in selecting relationship manager F. Other (Please Specify)...............................
11. Please tick the annual income bracket (in Rs) that you fit into?

A. Less than 5 lacs C. 10 to 25 lacs E. 50 lacs or more

B. 5 to 10 lacs D. 25 to 50 lacs

12. Please give your valuable suggestions for further improving the services of your

bank(s) or the security firm(s). .......................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................... NAME (optional)................................... Mobile No (optional)............................. Table 1. Criteria and Sub-criteria
Criteria Image Sub- criteria Brand name Ambience Quality of R.M Convenient banking More products Offers Low brokerage Attractive interest Number of branches Number of ATMs Quick and quality service Working hours

Products/services

Quality of service

Table 2. Sample distribution

49 | P a g e No. of responden ts 102 18 5 38 6 6 5 102 18 % of responde nts 85 15 8 64 0 10 8 85 15

Gender

Male Female 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60 or more Indian NRI

Age(in years)

Nationality

Annual income(in Rs)

<5 lacs 5 to 10 lacs 10 to 25 lacs 25 to 50 lacs >50 lacs

28 56 20 14 2

23 46 17 12 2

Bibliography
1. Boyd, W. L., Leonard, M., & White, C. (1994). Customer Preferences for Financial

Services: An Analysis. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 12(1), 9-15.

2. Graddy, B., & Spencer, H. (1990). Managing Commercial Banks. 3. Kaynak, E., & Kucukemiroglu, O. (1992). Bank and product selection: Hong Kong.

International Journal of Bank Marketing, 10(1), 3-16.

4. Meziani, A. S., & Rezvani, F. (1990). Using the analytic hierarchy process to select a

financial instrument for a foreign investment. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 13(7), 77-82. 5. Saaty, T. L. (2000), Fundamentals of decision making and priority theory with the analytic hierarchy process, Pittsburgh: RWS Publications, pp. 1-478. 6. Malhotra, Naresh K. Marketing Research : An applied orientation

50 | P a g e 7. Capgemini and Merrill Lynch wealth reports, 2007 8. Wealth management systems survey 9. PWC reports on wealth management, 2009

10. India attractive market for wealth management: Barclays, Economic Times