Asia’s 25 biggest retail distributors

Oct 30, 2011

A new research report catalogues the most important sellers of mutual funds to retail investors throughout Asia ex-Japan.

A new report by Haymarket Intelligence, an affiliate of AsianInvestor, has ranked the biggest banks selling investment products to Asian retail investors.

Its findings show that the four big Chinese state-owned banks are the biggest distributors in the region, even despite the shrinkage of assets experienced this year by that country’s mutual funds industry.

In order, they are ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

International players Citi, HSBC and Standard Chartered also make the top 10, along with two banks from India (State Bank of India and ICICI Bank) and Singapore’s DBS Group, the leader for Southeast Asia.

The ranking was compiled by weighing five metrics, including non-interest income, net revenues per branch, the number of branches, the number of employees and the product portfolio (including deposits, insurance, mutual funds, brokerage and private banking).

The report, titled Retail Financial Products Distribution Market in Asia, looks at mass retail as well as private banking, brokerage and insurance distribution in Asia ex-Japan.

These leading financial distributors have a large presence in Asia which is supported by a wide branch network and a large employee base. In terms of the product offerings, all the leading financial distributors in Asia offer a range of products including deposits, mutual funds, insurance, private banking (wealth management) and capital markets related services.

Based on the investment strategy of the mutual funds being offered by the top 25 retail financial products distributors in Asia, equity-based funds lead the pack, followed by hybrid funds and debt funds.

Money market funds are also offered by a majority of top 25 financial products distributors in Asia, while funds of funds are only offered by about a third of these top 25 distributors.

For information about the report, which examines distribution channels in Asia ex-Japan, including banks, insurance companies and brokerages, please e-mail Richard Santoro or call him on +852 3175 1980.