The bank has expanded its pension fund management business, and is now the only one operating in Macau. Assets under management increased by 30% last year and, due to Macau’s low market penetration, rising salaries and increased competition for labour, this promises to be a fast-growing business.
Last year, Heng Seng opened three more branches in Macau to cater for the growing banking and capital accumulation needs in the booming economy. It established a representative office in Lisbon and it is upgrading its facilities to capitalise on increasing trade volumes between resources-rich Portuguese-speaking countries and China. The group established a processing centre in Guangzhou, China, to outsource its operations to address the severe labour shortage issue in Macau and cope with its increased transaction processing needs.
Seng Heng is setting up a data centre in Macau through partnerships with international telecoms companies. The bank has shown itself to be an innovative leader in new products. It set up the first (and still the only) asset management company in Macau, the first bank to offer offshore banking services and the first and only pension fund management company to offer self-managed products. The bank aims to strengthen its lead in wealth management services and increase the use of IT to automate its operations.
“We will utilise Macau as a platform to capitalise on the opportunities arising from the booming economy in China,” says Patrick Huen, executive director and CEO. “The arrival of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China [ICBC] as the major shareholder of Seng Heng Bank will soon further strengthen our leading position in the local financial services market.
“With the comprehensive branch network of ICBC, together with our established strategic alliance and relationships in Portugal, Seng Heng Bank is striving to integrate into the China market and expand globally. We therefore strongly believe that in future Seng Heng Bank will provide customers with more diversified yet superior financial services, and offer its staff even better career paths.”
