Bank of Singapore’s plans to grow its business over the next 18 months follows a tripling of its AUM between 2013 and 2022.
The Singapore-based lender, which is the private banking subsidiary of OCBC Bank, attributes its strong growth during this time to a five-fold increase in its AUM from the Greater China region, and a doubling in Asean, it announced on 3 July.
At present, Bank of Singapore’s AUM stands at $124 billion, and it has over 400 RMs globally.
Going forward, Jason Moo, chief executive officer of Bank of Singapore, believes the bank can capitalise on several opportunities to bolster its growth. These include burgeoning wealth growth in Asean and Greater China, a boom in family offices, wealth transfer to the next generation and rapid growth in independent asset managers.
Other opportunities Moo sees include growing demand for wealth management and portfolio advisory, rising interest in wealth planning and advisory, and a strong interest in alternatives and private markets.
Bank of Singapore’s expansion plans come as OCBC also aims to double its AUM for its premier banking and private client segments for Greater China.
Both segments recorded an increase in AUM of 3.5 times from 2013 to 2022.
Asean contributed 75% of the group’s income while the contribution from Greater China more than tripled from 6% to 20%. Other international markets also saw a doubling in their income on the back of sustained growth momentum.
Going forward, OCBC is looking to accelerate its investment in transaction banking capabilities with investments amounting to over S$50 million ($37 million) in Greater China, according to Tan Teck Long, who heads the bank’s global wholesale banking team.
In line with this, OCBC is looking to grow its investment banking capabilities two-fold through debt issuance and syndication, and by advising and financing cross-border corporate finance deals, said Tan.
He added that the bank has plans to increase its SME client base to over 26,000 in the next three years and enhance the coverage of Greater China corporates in Asean.
