Chinese Capital Drives Activity
Marco Pagliara, head of emerging markets at Deutsche Bank Private Bank, described Hong Kong as “probably the best performing region” for the business this year. He said the city had seen significant activity around trophy real estate, which typically has a Chinese component. Pagliara also pointed to strength across trading, lending against physical assets and real estate, and investment.
The activity comes as banks face concerns over tighter tax scrutiny in mainland China around fund outflows. Despite those concerns, Chinese flows continue to support Hong Kong’s role as an offshore wealth centre. The city is also proposing tax changes aimed at attracting asset managers. Under the proposed regime, private equity and potentially hedge fund managers would be exempt from tax on earnings from carried interest and performance fees.
Deutsche Bank Expands Its Private Bank
Deutsche Bank has been increasing its staffing across emerging markets as it seeks to capture more wealth-management business. The bank has hired more than 30 private bankers across its emerging-markets teams so far in 2026, with headcount continuing to grow on a net basis.
The bank is targeting more than €1 trillion in wealth assets under management by 2028. Its private bank added €25 billion in client assets during the second quarter, taking the total to €846 billion at the end of June. Wealth Management revenue also increased 11% year on year in the quarter. Client assets had risen by €56 billion during the first half of 2026, according to Deutsche Bank’s results. Assets under management stood at €732 billion at the end of June, compared with €645 billion a year earlier.
Hong Kong’s Growing Wealth Role
The latest figures come as Hong Kong continues to attract mainland Chinese wealth. A September report from the Hong Kong Association of Banks and Deloitte China projected that mainland China’s share of Hong Kong’s local assets under management could rise to 68% within five years, from 59%. The report was based on a survey of 147 member banks during the first half of 2026.
That growth reflects Hong Kong’s role as a channel between mainland China and international capital. For banks such as Deutsche Bank, the opportunity extends beyond managing assets to lending, investment products, real estate financing and other services used by wealthy clients.
Technology Supports Client Onboarding
Deutsche Bank is also using technology to increase its capacity to onboard wealthy clients. The bank began using agentic artificial intelligence in September to help check clients’ source of wealth in Singapore and Hong Kong. It plans to extend the technology across its private bank. The initiative is expected to support higher onboarding volumes. Deutsche Bank’s emerging-markets coverage region is on track to onboard about 30% more clients in 2026 than a year earlier, according to the bank.
For Deutsche Bank, the immediate test is whether strong activity in Hong Kong and other emerging markets can translate into sustained client growth as it works towards its €1 trillion Private Bank target.