BCG - The Boston Consulting Group

Situation

The private banking division of a leading European bank had established a presence in Asia, but at a scale that lagged its competitors. Given that Asia has the fastest growing wealth market in the world, this client wanted to accelerate its growth and become one of the major players in the region. The bank asked us to help it develop a growth strategy for Asia that would provide a concrete, action-oriented plan.

Approach

The BCG team started by analyzing the overall size and attractiveness of the private wealth markets in Asia—leveraging BCG’s Global Wealth Database to gain in-depth insight. This analysis identified tremendous wealth and significant business potential in specific markets, especially in the Greater China region. By conducting a series of interviews with high-net-worth individuals and industry practitioners, we were able to segment the customers in each priority market based on asset size, investment behavior, and source of funds. In addition, our team conducted a detailed internal diagnostic study and identified a number of issues that needed attention if the bank was to support accelerated business growth. We recommended that the bank undertake three strategic initiatives: first, strengthen its segmentation efforts so it could offer tailored solutions to meet the specific needs of different customers; second, enhance its organization and client service model; and third, improve its current operating platform.

Impact and value created

BCG and the client team collectively designed a strategic plan with an ambitious target of growing the bank’s Asia business by a factor of three over the coming three years. Because we had laid out clearly defined initiatives and specific milestones, our client was able to implement our recommendations immediately. Although the bank had set a very ambitious target, it was able to deliver strong growth one year after our involvement, and was well on track to achieving its goal.

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