NUGSB is pleased to host a high powered panel on wealth management in the

region. Increasingly, high net worth individuals are looking for advice on how to

manage their wealth - growing them by investing in a wide range of investment

options. The wealth management industry has been growing rapidly in the last

decade - only in the US the assets of clients grew to USD 50 trillion, with one third

of the growth coming from fresh funds (and two thirds by market appreciation).

However, Covid, inflationary pressures and stock market corrections across major

markets have posed new questions to wealth management. In addition, ESG and

SDGs bring added challenges in terms of responsible investing. Global ESG assets

were of the order of USD 35 trillion in 2020, and projected to hit USD 50 trillion in

2025, so a healthy part of wealth management assets are increasingly influenced by

ESG considerations. Hence the wealth management industry is undergoing a historic restructuring, fueled by changing demographics, generational wealth transfer, and rapidly expanding digitalization. In addition, today's investors are more knowledgeable than ever,

expecting access to a continuously widening array of investment opportunities at

lower fees. In such an environment in which offerings are becoming increasingly

commodified, how can the wealth managers defend their competitive positions to

continue to grow and justify their higher fees? What do these changes mean to

investors?