Goldman Sachs is accelerating the hiring of wealth management advisers across Asia as the region’s wealthy families increasingly seek to diversify into US assets after years of strong market gains, while the AI boom is creating a new generation of millionaires with growing financial planning needs.

The Wall Street bank is expanding its advisory teams in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, alongside specialists in areas such as trading and lending, according to Nishi Somaiya, its global co-head of wealth management.

“We are very proactively growing our adviser footprint here,” Somaiya said recently during her first visit to Hong Kong since being appointed to her current role this year. “We’re very committed to hiring more advisers in the region.”Goldman had seen its Asian wealth management business record double-digit growth over the past several years, and the bank aimed to maintain that pace by attracting new clients and expanding its relationships with existing ones, she said.

The bank did not disclose specific hiring targets in the region. Asia’s importance in the global wealth management industry has been growing.

Hong Kong overtook Switzerland as the world’s largest cross-border wealth booking centre last year, with US$2.95 trillion in assets, according to Boston Consulting Group.

Meanwhile, Asia’s growing ranks of wealthy families are increasingly looking for diversification beyond their home markets, with Goldman saying United States assets were particularly attractive after years of strong returns led by technology stocks. The wealth creation through AI has been remarkableNishi Somaiya, Goldman Sachs The S&P 500 Index has gained about 13 per cent this year, driven largely by a group of AI-related and semiconductor companies, although recent market volatility has raised concerns about the sustainability of the gains.

“Many clients want to diversify their wealth … and often for Asia clients, the form that takes is investing into US assets,” Somaiya said. Many wealthy Asian families owned substantial operating businesses in their home markets and sought reinvest proceeds from share sales in US equities and private-market opportunities, she added.

Somaiya said the trend was being reinforced by generational wealth transfers, as younger family members, many educated overseas, became more familiar with US markets and increasingly involved in managing family fortunes as the AI boom reshaped the wealth landscape.

“The wealth creation through AI has been remarkable,” she said, adding that soaring valuations had enabled some technology workers to accumulate tens of millions of dollars in their twenties, often before they had developed mature financial knowledge to manage the wealth.

In Asia, Beijing and Shenzhen rank among the world’s top 15 cities for billionaires, as AI-driven wealth accumulation has helped reshape the region’s billionaire landscape, according to a recent report by data company Altrata.

Somaiya said such newly wealthy individuals increasingly needed advice on monetising company shares, managing concentrated stock holdings, diversifying investments and tax planning.

Separately, tighter scrutiny of offshore wealth by mainland China tax authorities had prompted more conversations among wealthy clients about their financial arrangements.

“It’s really prompted clients to think about aspects of their wealth planning,” she said, adding that clients were reviewing their governance structures, long-term objectives and diversification strategies.