capgemini

Asia's wealthy are defined by young demographics and ambitious entrepreneurs, forcing private bankers to rethink their models, according to Shayne Nelson, CEO of Standard Chartered Private Bank.

That's why private banks have been tripping over each other to set up offices, reorganise and poach talent, in an effort to woo the increasing number of wealthy in Asia.

The ranks of the truly wealthy have swelled, with Asia-Pacific leading the recovery, according to the Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management/Capgemini World Wealth Report.

Hong Kong's high-net-worth crowd were the hardest hit in Asia-Pacific by the financial crisis, according to the annual wealth report from Capgemini and Merrill Lynch.

The global financial crisis has caused the assets of the world's high-net-worth individuals to fall by an unprecedented 19.5% to $32.8 trillion.