Banking group DBS has said it aims to double its wealth assets under management and relationship manager headcount in Thailand by 2023.
The Singapore bank has been operating in Thailand for 20 years via its wholly-owned subsidiary, DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand), which currently offers clients onshore wealth management services, which include funds, equities, structured notes and bonds.
Partnership
DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand) has now partnered with DBS Private Bank in Singapore to expand its onshore services with global offerings, the firm said.
This will include access to offshore investment products, as well as succession planning and philanthropy advisory services.
With the partnership, DBS Vickers aims to double its wealth assets under management to S$8bn (£4.7bn, $5.82bn, €5.3bn) by 2023 and also plans to double its headcount for wealth relationship managers to 70 during the same period, according to a Singapore-based spokeswoman for DBS.
The bank said that the partnership enables DBS Vickers to have a one-stop proposition to manage both onshore and offshore services in one place.
It explained that existing market practices require investors to go through separate entities for their investment needs – one for onshore and another for offshore.
“HNWIs in Thailand are relatively conservative with offshore investments, but this is beginning to change. As their personal wealth grows, we’re seeing corresponding demand for holistic wealth management services and global investment strategies,” said Pattera Dilokrungthirapop, DBS Vickers’ chief executive.
Growing market
Thailand’s high net worth segment is becoming an attractive market for private banks.
According to DBS, Thailand has at least 122,000 HNWIs, which is almost equal to the number in Singapore.
It is also expected that their wealth will grow at a five-year annual rate of 9.9% to $401.2bn by 2020, according to a recent SCB Julius Baer report.
Besides DBS, other wealth managers have already made a move to tap Thailand’s wealthy to offer offshore services.
In February 2019, international private banking and asset management group LGT established a subsidiary in Thailand, LGT Securities (Thailand), to offer wealth and management services to high net worth individuals in the country.
In April last year, Julius Baer and Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank established a strategic joint venture, SCB Julius Baer, while in 2016, Credit Suisse set up its wealth management team in Thailand through its securities entity, Credit Suisse Securities (Thailand).
Lombard Odier established a partnership with Bangkok-based Kasikornbank in 2014, in which it manages global investment funds on behalf of Kasikornbank’s private clients.
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