Stanchart Uses Hedge Fund Techniques to Protect Wealthy Clients Against Fluctuations
According to a top executive, Standard Chartered (STAN.L) is assisting its wealth management clients in allocating a portion of their assets to hedge funds in order to better mitigate the effects of increased market volatility.
The Asia-focused bank’s action coincides with an increase in global hedge fund allocations as investors seek beyond conventional equities and bonds to unconventional assets. Additionally, StanChart is using the region’s fast expanding affluent population to expand its wealth business.
Samir Subberwal, global head of wealth solutions, retail products, data, and analytics at StanChart, stated, “I think this is a good product to offer to clients as something that gives them a little bit of a hedge and stable returns.”
“Hedge fund strategies, such as equity market neutral and multi-strategy fund of hedge funds, have a clear focus on generating positive, lowly correlated absolute returns and can help investors navigate choppy markets,” Subberwal said to Reuters.Over the past few years, these hedge funds’ performance has actually been rather resilient.
According to a Goldman Sachs note last month, global hedge funds returned an average of 7% in the first half of 2026, significantly higher than the 10-year average of 4.1%. According to data from the hedge fund industry research firm HFR, total assets under management increased by $409 billion to $5.6 trillion last quarter, marking the greatest increase in hedge fund assets in history.
According to Subberwal, StanChart will prioritize hedge fund allocations: “It is about completing the suite of products so we can help clients diversify their portfolios and be able to manage the volatility of markets much better.”
Last month, StanChart announced a first-half profit that above forecasts due to a 38% increase in wealth income and worldwide banking revenue.
