Standard Chartered Bank's Hong Ziyu: Embracing Certainty in an Uncertain World

March in Shanghai: the world-class Formula 1 (F1) Heineken China Grand Prix returns once again. The engines roar at the Shanghai International Circuit, reigniting the speed and passion of racing culture in this city.

During the event, Hong Ziyu, Global Head of Private Banking at Standard Chartered, and also Head of Wealth Management and Retail Banking for Greater China and North Asia, arrived in Shanghai to take part in a series of on-the-ground activities, and granted an exclusive interview to Wall Street Insights. Hong Ziyu, whose ancestral roots are in Fujian, grew up in Singapore, and is now based in Hong Kong, China. Fluent in multiple languages, he chatted with us in very smooth Mandarin about F1, AI, and his latest observations on the high-net-worth market.

A balance point of speed, risk control, and innovation

This year, Standard Chartered is serving as an F1 official partner for the first time, inviting high-net-worth clients from around the world to participate in a series of client-only experiential events.

When discussing its partnership with F1, Hong Ziyu shared that, “F1 holds races in 21 countries and regions, and Standard Chartered has business coverage in 19 of those markets—so the overlap is very high. At the same time, many F1 global racing fans also have an international outlook and an entrepreneurial spirit, and are active in different markets around the world—this is highly aligned with our client base.”

On a deeper level, the reason also includes a high degree of alignment in value principles. F1 teams have an excellent balance of pursuing speed, controlling risk, technological innovation, and stable, sustainable performance. Standard Chartered Group also places great emphasis on maintaining a balance among these key elements.

“No single race car can win just by pursuing the highest top speed,” Hong Ziyu said. “On the track, you compete on speed, but what often determines the outcome is the management of risk, strategy, and various variables—which is highly similar to the banking industry.”

In addition, Standard Chartered also sponsors F1 Academy, an all-female series of races, to support and develop more female drivers to participate in this sport. Throughout the entire season, it will continue exploring more initiatives to support the development of young female drivers together with F1 Academy. This also fits the sport’s latest development trend—female racing talent is gradually showing their potential. Launched in 2023, F1 Academy has rapidly grown into a women’s racing platform with global influence, and the Shanghai round is the opening race of this year’s all-female series.

Rely on technology—master it

F1 emphasizes an ongoing pursuit of technological innovation, and Standard Chartered places particular importance on investing in AI and technology innovation internally as well. As a global banking group, Standard Chartered devotes no effort spared to technology investment, and the same is true for its private banking business.

Hong Ziyu revealed that Standard Chartered’s latest round of technology investment is already pointing toward a fundamental reconfiguration of its service model. In particular, AI has extended from backend risk control to frontend customer communication and support. AI systems are already used for abnormal monitoring of cross-border fund transfers, new-customer KYC review, and the integration of information between investment banks and funds under open product architectures— and now there are more, more timely tools available.

For example, his first daily news brief comes from the Standard Chartered systems’ aggregation of viewpoints from various financial institutions.

“Our system can search for what every investment bank and every fund company is thinking. We use AI to search and then deliver conclusions, helping our wealth advisers digest and improve.”

“Of course, our research team’s views also collide with external views, and in the end we arrive at a more comprehensive, integrated conclusion.”

Standard Chartered Group will also roll out its own AI Agents to help wealth advisers enhance their skills and serve clients.

Market reshaping overseas driven by China’s outbound enterprises

Across Standard Chartered’s global footprint, Greater China and North Asia contribute to roughly half of its private banking business. Among them, the wealth growth and contributions of Chinese clients are especially prominent.

This concentration is both an advantage and a challenge. To continue capturing opportunities, Standard Chartered is investing $1.5 billion to upgrade its service capabilities, with half of that used for talent. Standard Chartered hopes that, going forward, wealth advisers must have a broader global perspective and more agile capabilities for updating their knowledge. Therefore, increasing training investment for young advisers becomes a must-do action, and recruiting and training talent with China backgrounds is also a top priority.

The adjustment of the talent strategy reflects deeper changes in the market landscape. “China enterprises going global” and “intergenerational succession” are the two most important themes today among Chinese high-net-worth client groups.

As large “chain leader” companies continue to globalize, mid- and small-sized companies across the upstream and downstream also follow suit: Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Dubai, Africa… Hong Ziyu listed a typical map of needs of Chinese mid- and small-sized enterprises. More and more companies are taking root and executing overseas, and last year a New Year event in Kenya gathered 200-plus Chinese attendees.

This network effect forms the logic of how wealth management business starts. “At first, the client’s needs are about accounts—what accounts the client needs in which markets. Then, possibly, it becomes about family accounts. And once we build trust with the bank, it extends into wealth management.”

Against a backdrop of falling interest rates, clients’ demand for returns generated by wealth management products is even more urgent. This requires Standard Chartered’s wealth retail system to adopt more layered response strategies— for example, QDII funds provide international allocation channels, foreign exchange trading meets the needs of proactive management, and investment-linked insurance attracts more conservative capital with relatively higher returns. At the same time, products in different markets are tailored to different clients. For instance, in the entrepreneur community, the “Generation Z/Generation One” (those with a stronger awareness of leverage and experience) can flexibly apply investment leverage in overseas markets.

Intergenerational succession and the underlying logic

Cross-border expansion of the business map broadens the regional boundaries of wealth management, while client evolution— the rise of the younger generation— is redefining the core of private banking services.

“The biggest challenge for private banking is how to serve the second generation of family wealth,” Hong Ziyu said plainly.

“Second-generation clients are different from their parents. The first-generation clients grew up reading newspapers and have a sense of trust in the information delivered by wealth advisers (RMs). The second generation has grown up in an international education environment, with abundant information and knowledge reserves. Our wealth advisers must be fully prepared for this.”

“Chinese clients are very good at math and learn things very quickly. They’re interested in good funds, hedging, and leveraged products. The rise of family offices is also a sign that this trend has matured—more and more people are using professional perspectives to view wealth management.”

The use of family wealth also brings deep adjustments to the service model, and the bank must redefine the ways it accompanies clients as well. Winners in big families will return to where the “roots” (their hometowns) are—building schools, setting up ancestral halls, and erecting high-rise buildings. Banks must follow suit and provide more detailed services.

Of course, in the process of intergenerational transmission, the underlying logic of Chinese culture has not changed. “Chinese people care more about human relationships and feelings. The more you invest overseas, the more you need to find a trusted relationship manager.”

Perhaps this is the confidence of Standard Chartered, rooted in China for nearly 170 years and accompanying China-funded enterprises and individuals as they continuously expand their global footprint.