Now a two-time winner of the Spear’s UHNW Wealth Manager of the Year award (he also won in 2022), Charlie Hoffman of HSBC Private Bank says his team’s motto is ‘restless momentum’.
‘We always celebrate success, but we’re also always looking to how we might improve our performance and the client outcome by the extra one per cent,’ he says. ‘So we never rest on our laurels. We are literally the sum of our clients.’
Hoffman is managing director in HSBC’s UHNW team and runs its largest book of business, looking after more than $20 billion in client assets – a client book that exceeds those of some entire private banks. It’s a group that has a broad remit: beyond day-to-day banking, lending and investment management, Hoffman and his fellow advisers also support clients with succession planning, wealth structuring and family office governance, ‘guiding a family through wealth transition and the human landmines that might appear as they pass on their wealth’.
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He is keen to emphasise that collaboration is key in delivering the best outcomes for these clients.
‘I am nothing without the team. And that goes not just for my individual team, but for the teams that then assist us, whether that’s the investment teams, the banking teams, our risk teams, our credit teams. So it really is a huge effort across the private bank. We really do try and bring the very best of HSBC to the client’s door, wherever they’re based.’
Indeed, it’s HSBC’s international connectivity and reach that has allowed it to serve the changing needs of clients, Hoffman adds.
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‘Clients are becoming more and more international, so they need that seamless service across multiple jurisdictions. There aren’t many banks which are both international and can book their clients seamlessly – whether it’s in Switzerland or Luxembourg or Singapore or the Channel Islands. It’s very hard to find; we do have the platform which allows that and therefore is very appreciated by our client base.’
[See also: Wealth manager of the year calls on clients and colleagues to test for prostate cancer]
One of Hoffman’s proudest achievements, however, goes beyond private banking services. In 2025 he was tested for – and ultimately diagnosed with – prostate cancer following a conversation with Soho House founder Nick Jones, a prostate cancer survivor and an advocate for early prostate cancer screening.
‘I’m glad to say I’m now cancer-free,’ Hoffman says. ‘But another of my clients listened to my journey and, unbeknown to me, went to their doctor, got a check-up and was diagnosed with a tumour. I’ve introduced him to my consultant, he’s now had a biopsy, and I hope he has a successful outcome.’
He adds: ‘I hope in some small way, personally, I might have saved a life.’
This feature first appeared in Spear’s Magazine issue 98. Click here to subscribe
