Vietnam among 20 emerging markets for untapped wealth management potential

Vietnam among 20 emerging markets for untapped wealth management potential

Vietnam is one of the emerging markets offering the largest untapped financial wealth opportunity.

According to “Global Wealth Report 2026” released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) on May 27, Vietnam's financial wealth growth of the affluent is projected to rise 9 per cent annually through 2030, ranking among the top 20 emerging markets.

However, local offerings, meanwhile, have not kept pace. Investment product shelves are often thin, provider choice is limited, and service models remain closer to retail banking than true wealth management.

BCG cited a logistics director in Ho Chi Minh City who has crossed the threshold from the mass-affluent middle class into a new financial reality, with half a million dollars, perhaps more. However, his assets sit largely in a bank deposit account, earning little, invested in almost nothing.

As one of the high-growth, wealth-management maturity markets, Vietnam offers the greatest potential to build new capabilities.

The most attractive segment for wealth managers is the affluent and emerging high-net-worth (HNW) tier, broadly defined as clients with $250,000 to $5 milli on in investable assets. In emerging markets, this group is large, growing fast, and structurally underserved.

They have outgrown standard deposit products, particularly as interest rates fall, but do not yet qualify for the full-service models that international wealth managers reserve for larger clients. And the international players in many emerging markets are pulling back. Rising compliance costs, tighter crossborder requirements, and a broader push to reduce complexity have led global wealth managers to concentrate on clients with $5 million and above, leaving the affluent and lower HNW segment increasingly to local players.

BCG estimates that emerging markets will add $12 trillion of financial wealth and account for roughly 10 per cent of global wealth growth between now and the end of the decade. The affluent-and-above segment –individuals with over $250,000 in financial wealth –is forecast to grow at an average of 8 per cent annually in these markets through 2030, adding over 1 million dollar millionaires by 2030.

The growth is concentrated but broad. India alone will add more than $2 trillion in total wealth by 2030, followed by Brazil at $1 trillion and Mexico at $600 billion. Strong GDP growth, rising domestic savings rates, and expanding affluent and middle classes are all driving this acceleration. The wealth management ecosystem has yet to catch up, and that is where the opportunity lies.

VIR