StanChart launches investment club for the super rich

Reuters and staff reporter

Standard Chartered (2888) yesterday said that its global private banking unit had launched an investment platform specifically tailored for its ultra-high-net-worth clientele.

The Private Markets Co-Investment Club is designed to cater to increasing demand from these high-end investors for efficient, institutional-grade private market portfolios, the global bank said.

StanChart said the club aims to provide its members with benefits such as institutional-grade due diligence, and facilitated execution and transaction support.

"Ultra-high-net-worth individuals are increasingly looking beyond traditional investment solutions to access the private markets," said Raymond Ang, global head of private bank and affluent clients at Standard Chartered.

For the launch, Standard Chartered partnered with private investment house Ardian.

Standard Chartered reported a 2024 net profit of US$3.59 billion (HK$28 billion), up by 19 percent year-on-year, thanks to a robust wealth business.

The British lender also declared a final interim dividend of 28 US cents, leading to a full-year distribution of 37 US cents, an increase of 37 percent from the year prior.

The bank is doubling down on its mainstay wealth management and markets business, even as an uncertain global growth outlook and a divergent interest rate policy are expected to cast a cloud over Western banks in the near term.