ING Private Bank eyes wealthy Indians, Chinese

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Renato de Guzman, Asia chief executive of the Dutch bank's private bank, said his unit had built up a $23 billion pool of assets, with average annual growth of 34 percent over the last four years.

His hopes for growing the business are high as governments are starting to allow their citizens to invest more abroad in an effort to reduce upward pressures on currencies and inflation from fast growing foreign exchange reserves.

China is launching an experimental scheme to allow some citizens to invest in Hong Kong financial markets, while India now allows individuals to invest up to $200,000 a year overseas. Thailand has allowed brokerages and asset management firms to offer up to $5 million of offshore investments to each client.

"We're doing better than average. There's strong growth everywhere," Singapore-based de Guzman said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference in his native Philippines.

"We're building certain onshore businesses everywhere, exploring where ING has a strong local presence," he added, citing Japan and South Korea as examples.

But most of ING Private Bank's business comes from India and China, where booming property markets and soaring stock prices have enriched many individuals in the last couple of years.

In India, de Guzman hopes to funnel funds from wealthy individuals through a network of over 400 branches run by ING Vysya Bank, a joint venture formed in 2002.

In India, ING Private Bank Asia is willing to waive its $2 million minimum investment rule in the hope of drawing wealthy Indians who will steadily increase their investments.

In China, de Guzman is helping investors with funds already in foreign currencies.

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