International firm Withers has entered into a consultancy agreement with BeA-asia, a financial services advisory firm with offices in Shanghai and Rome. With the tie-up, Withers aims to explore the wealth market in China and analyse opportunities for serving the country's burgeoning high-net-worth community.
Withers global managing director Margaret Robertson said that China is currently the world's fourth largest high-net-worth base, with 477,000 high-net-worth individuals, and this number is expected to continue to increase over the coming years. "Such high-speed wealth creation will undoubtedly lead to complex wealth planning needs for entrepreneurs, their families and their businesses, so this is obviously a market Withers is very interested in," said Robertson. "Long term, we plan to open an office in Shanghai, subject to receiving the necessary approvals from the regulators in China."
Withers opened its first Asia office in Hong Kong in January 2008. ALB
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