HSBC Holdings has launched a fund to capture investment opportunities in the metaverse for its rich clients in Hong Kong and Singapore as financial services companies tap into Silicon Valley’s new virtual reality. Metaverse Discretionary Strategy portfolio, managed by its asset management arm, will focus on investing within the metaverse ecosystem across five segments – infrastructure, computing, virtualization, experience and discovery, and interface. The metaverse comprises a network of virtual environments accessed via different devices where users can work, socialize and play. It has come into sharper focus since Facebook changed its name to Meta last year to reflect its bet on the sector.
HSBC said it was buying a plot of virtual real estate in an online gaming space, becoming the second global bank to invest in a popular metaverse platform after JPMorgan set up a presence in blockchain-based Decentraland. HSBC is putting $3.5 billion into its wealth and personal banking business, in line with its ambition to become Asia’s top wealth manager by 2025. Global wealth managers, including UBS and Credit Suisse, have been ramping up headcount in Asia as countries such as China and India minted more billionaires and millionaires.