OCBC takes HNWI banking to next level as clients grow ‘more cosmopolitan and sophisticated’: Helen Wong

AS ASIAN wealth increases, more high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in Asean are becoming interested in preserving their wealth across generations, said OCBC group chief executive Helen Wong.

“HNWIs have become more cosmopolitan and sophisticated in the way that they run their investments and manage their wealth,” said Wong on the sidelines of OCBC’s media briefing in Hong Kong.

She pointed to such HNWIs hiring professionals, establishing family offices and diversifying their assets as examples of how they manage wealth now, with a focus on preserving wealth for generational transition.

The lender’s wealth management income – which includes insurance, private banking, premier private client, premier banking, asset management and stock broking – increased 19 per cent year on year to S$1.3 billion for the first quarter of FY2024, from S$1.1 billion in the year-ago period.

It now makes up about 36 per cent of the group’s income, up from 32 per cent a year ago.

Another indicator that wealth in Asean is growing is that OCBC’s private banking arm, Bank of Singapore (BOS), now onboards clients with more than US$5 million in investable assets, said Wong. In the past, the minimum amount was US$3 million.

Wong highlighted that compared to HNWIs in the US and Europe, who have inherited wealth through many generations, Asean families are likely to be only in their second or third generations of wealth.

She said that the conversation with HNWI clients is no longer centred on what to invest in, but on how families can safely pass their wealth and businesses to the next generation.

BOS is hence focusing on supporting this transition.

Wealth advisers across BOS’ three hubs in Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai engage clients to define their succession goals, taking into account tax, estate and legal considerations.

To engage younger clients, BOS is working with top universities in Singapore and China for its next-generation programme. Launched in 2012, it aims to equip its clients with knowledge on areas such as finance, leadership and investments.

It also holds exclusive events to actively engage the next generation of HNWIs, offering sessions with thought leaders and educational trips on business development.

Of the next generation, Wong said: “They are learning the business acumen from their families, while learning about financial risks, techniques and investment from us.”

Amid a growing pool of wealthy customers in Asean, OCBC aims to draw in more of these clients by offering an array of financial services that can help them build wealth on a single platform.

This includes insurance, private banking, and consumer and retail banking, Wong said.

Referring to this as a “wealth continuum”, she explained that the group should be able to serve customers seamlessly as they “migrate up” from more simple needs such as buying life insurance and stocks, to investing and preserving their wealth.

“We want to equally avail those products and capabilities across the wealth continuum, so that we’re not missing customers,” she added.