• Lu International has leveraged leading-edge technology from Chinese parent company Lufax and customised its wealth management app for local markets in Asia
• The app enables wealthy customers to invest in products such as structured notes and funds, and Lu Global is moving towards enabling small-sum investments in private equity
• More than 150,000 consumers downloaded and registered on the app in three months

Taking a different approach from some other Chinese financial services firms, Lu International is building an online wealth management platform, Lu Global, that leverages technology from China yet is tailored specifically for Asians outside of China. Whereas parent company Lufax in China is focused on the domestic market, Lu International CEO Kit Wong told The Asian Banker, “we are international, so it’s international products. We work with all the global product providers.” The current product mix, he said, includes funds and yield-based products as well as structured notes. “Those are quite different from the domestic market (in China).”

            A key advantage for investors, Wong said, is that Lu Global also offers products at smaller investment amounts, rather than the significantly higher amounts they would need to invest to get the products elsewhere. “For example, some products take a dollar. Some, at $5,000, you would only get from other sources with investing a substantial amount.”

            A key area where Lu International has benefitted from Lufax and its parent Ping An Group is in technology. “We work with Lufax and Ping An to see what they’re doing and see what can be adapted,” Wong said. “One of the things we use is facial recognition technology, as an additional means of verifying identity. We had to train it up for Southeast Asian customers. It scans your face, matches based on dot points, as proof of your identity. We are also working w...

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Keywords:Financial Service, Online Wealth Management, Technology