Are S'pore banks underloved?

THE three local banks continue to underperform with DBS the worst off. Year to date DBS is down 8 per cent while United Overseas Bank (UOB) is 5 per cent lower and OCBC has lost 3 per cent. The benchmark Straits Times Index is down 2 per cent for the same period. A yield of around 4 per cent doesn't seem to get investors excited.

But one would argue that banks as investments should be safely boring. In terms of safety the three score top marks; they are among the world's safest banks and rated along with the world's top banks.

DBS Bank has been crowned Asia's safest bank for the eighth year in a row.

In September New York-based trade publication Global Finance ranked DBS as the third-safest commercial bank globally, and the 12th-safest in the world. The world's 500 largest banks by total assets were ranked through an evaluation of long-…