Hong Leong Bank’s Wealth Arm Bags Six Awards As It Doubles Down On Private Markets
HLB Private Bank and HLB Priority swept six regional awards as the Bank pushes ahead with AI-assisted advisory, a Lombard Odier tie-up, and two new private market funds aimed at high-net-worth clients.
- HLB's wealth arm won six industry awards, including Best Private Bank in Malaysia and Singapore, validating its growing presence in wealth management.
- HLB launched two private markets investment vehicles, giving eligible clients access to asset classes historically reserved for institutional investors.
- HLB is integrating AI copilots for Relationship Managers and partnering with Lombard Odier to enhance personalised, institutional-grade wealth advisory services.
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Hong Leong Bank’s (HLB) wealth management business has picked up six industry awards, a validation for a relatively new player in the region’s wealth space.
This comes as the Bank pushes ahead with a 3-5 year transformation plan that’s putting real weight behind innovation and personalisation in wealth management.
HLB Private Bank was named Best Private Bank/Wealth Manager in both Malaysia and Singapore at the WealthBriefingAsia Awards, while HLB Priority took home Best Bank/Wealth Manager for Emerging Affluent Clients at the Global Mass Affluent Banking Awards.
There’s more – HLB Private Bank also won the Rising Star Private Bank Award for Malaysia and Best Private Bank for Wealth Creation & Preservation at the Global Private Banking Innovation Awards, while HLB Priority picked up Best Value Proposition for Emerging Affluent Clients, also at the Global Mass Affluent Banking Awards.
Bigger Focus Given To Wealth Management
Since kicking off its bankwide transformation, HLB has been steadily building up wealth management as a core growth pillar and these wins suggest the market is taking notice, even though the Bank is still a relative newcomer to the region’s bespoke wealth scene.
Group Managing Director and CEO Kevin Lam framed it as part of a bigger shift in how the Bank sees its role. “We are in the business of growing wealth, and elevating our wealth management capabilities is a core priority of our ongoing bankwide transformation plan,” he said, noting that while this helps diversify revenue through non-interest income, the real value is in how the Bank supports clients as they grow their wealth.
He pointed out that banks have traditionally kept wealth services, business banking and personal wealth in separate silos – something HLB wants to move away from in favour of a “continuous pathway” for clients.
That philosophy played out at the Bank’s Private Markets Summit 2026, said to be the first event of its kind in Malaysia.
There, HLB announced two upcoming investment vehicles: the Global Private Equity Fund-of-Funds II and the Private Markets Evergreen Income Fund (Resilient Income Generation) – products aimed at giving eligible clients access to asset classes historically reserved for institutional players, including illiquidity premiums and operational returns through direct ownership and bespoke financing.
The Industry Is Changing Globally
Jeffrey Yap, HLB’s Managing Director and Regional Head of Wealth Management, said the shift is a response to a more complicated wealth landscape overall.
“The macro reality of the modern wealth landscape requires us to reimagine the infrastructure of wealth management,” he said, pointing to compressed market volatility, geopolitical tensions, and the emotionally fraught process of passing wealth to the next generation as factors clients now have to navigate.
He added that the Bank’s edge lies in giving clients access to global market insights, regional investment options and advisory services, paired with asset allocation strategies tailored to different life stages.
On the product side, HLB Private Bank has teamed up with Lombard Odier to offer institutional-grade portfolio advisory and multi-generational legacy transfer services for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
The Bank has also rolled out AI copilots for its Relationship Managers – the idea being that AI handles the real-time market data crunching, freeing up RMs to focus on personalised client strategy.
Separately, HLB Priority runs regular client engagement events, including its annual Wealth Symposium, where clients get a look at market analyses and the Bank’s investment house view.
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