SCB partners with Singapore institute to help develop relationship managers

Laliphat Toranavikrai, SCB executive vice president for its private-banking relationship-management division, said the needs of high-net-worth individuals nowadays were changing because there were more younger wealthy people, especially young entrepreneurs. Therefore, the bank’s financial advisers have to know how to deal with this new demographic.

She said Thailand was experiencing Southeast Asia’s highest growth in the number of wealthy individuals, at 13-14 per cent a year. “Therefore, we have to develop our human resources to serve our customers’ sophisticated views on investment.”

In the past, relationship managers focused on trust, but today client experience is essential, and the bank’s relationship managers must know how to ride this global trend. That is why the bank needs a “Wealth Academy”. SCB classifies its wealthy customers in two categories. An “SCB First” customer is one with assets under management of Bt10 million to Bt30 million, while those qualifying for SCB Private Banking have AUMs higher than that.

The bank now serves more than 7,000 SCB Private Banking families and more than 30,000 SCB First members, covering more than Bt800 billion of AUM. The bank has 100 relationship managers; those serving Private Banking members handle 60-70 each, and those serving SCB First handle 150-200 each.

SCB is among more than 60 financial-institution clients of WMI.

Foo Mee Har, chief executive officer of WMI, said that by region last year, Asia-Pacific surpassed North America for the first time with the largest amount of wealth held by high-net-worth individuals. It grew by 9.9 per cent in this region, compared with 2.3 per cent in North America. The global growth figure was 4.4 per cent.

Wealth management still has room to grow because one-third of rich people allow private banking to manage their wealth.

The slowdown in yield each year, the complexity of regulations and the competition from independent financial advisers are forcing wealth-management providers to develop talent and capability to deliver world-class service.

Under the five-year partnership with WMI, Laliphat said the quality of relationship managers would result in growing AUM of its customers, and the bank wants to sustain annual growth of AUM of 15-20 per cent.

Moreover, the academy is expected to help keep junior relationship managers on staff, as their turnover currently is higher than that of their senior counterparts.

In the overall industry, junior relationship managers stay with a bank for around three to four years on average, she said.

Laliphat said wealthy customers would migrate their investments from deposits to sophisticated products because regulations for individual investors had eased. The Bank of Thailand now allows an individual who has AUM of Bt100 million to invest US$5 million abroad directly per year.

She said SCB had recommended that wealthy individuals invest in dual-currency deposits during the market volatility resulting from British citizens’ recent vote to leave the European Union. So far, AUM from dual-currency deposits have increased to between Bt500 million and Bt600 million from Bt200 million before the Brexit vote.

She added that the weakened pound sterling was making assets in the UK more interesting, with many SCB Private Banking families asking about the possibility of investing in schools, apartments and football clubs in Britain.

However, the situation there is uncertain even though asset prices are attractive, so customers should wait and see, she said.