[SINGAPORE] Bank of Singapore (BOS) plans more investment in hiring and technology as it aims to climb into Asia’s top five private banks within five years after assets under management rose nearly 20 per cent to exceed US$145 billion in the third quarter, chief executive Jason Moo said.
Asia’s wealth surge anchors the push. Global high-net-worth individual wealth rose 4.2 per cent in 2024, while Asia-Pacific’s climbed 4.8 per cent, second only to North America, according to Capgemini’s world wealth report.
The region’s high-net-worth individual population grew 2.7 per cent, expanding the client base for private banks.
High-net-worth individuals refers to those with at least US$1 million in investable assets, while ultra-high-net-worth people are those with US$30 million or more, according to Capgemini.
“We hope to be within the top five in the next three to five years,” Moo told Reuters in an interview. Finews, which tracks standalone private banks, currently ranks BOS, the private banking arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, seventh in the region.
BOS’s AUM stood at about US$120 billion when Moo took over in early 2023. It has since climbed to more than US$145 billion in the third quarter despite the bank raising its minimum account size to US$5 million from US$3 million last year.
The number of relationship managers has reached 500, from roughly 400 in 2023, and Moo said hiring will accelerate again in 2026.
“We hired aggressively in 2024, we hired moderately in 2025. We’ll probably switch back to the aggressive mode in 2026. So we’ll continue that trend, continue that runway for the next few years,” he said.
BOS also plans more bespoke products for clients with US$100 million or more in assets, according to Moo.
Ultra-high-net-worth assets grew close to 20 per cent in the first three quarters this year, while assets from financial intermediaries such as external asset managers rose over 30 per cent.
Moo said the bank is also investing in proprietary asset allocation technology to incorporate local currencies and insurance holdings into portfolio planning, aiming to make wealth management more tailored for clients.
Hong Kong, its largest office outside Singapore, has already met its target of growing AUM by 50 per cent from 2024 to 2026, more than a year ahead of schedule, according to Moo.
Dubai remains a priority, with the bank ranking third among private banks there behind Julius Baer and UBS and on track to account for 20 per cent of AUM by 2027, Moo said.
He added that a booking centre in Dubai is under consideration if client demand rises. Singapore and Hong Kong are its current booking centres.
Looking ahead, Moo said the bank is exploring ways to leverage OCBC’s regional presence to build an integrated onshore-offshore private banking network across the region.
OCBC is South-east Asia’s second-largest bank by assets, with key markets including Greater China, Malaysia and Indonesia. OCBC also owns an 88.2 per cent stake in insurer Great Eastern Holdings , LSEG data showed. REUTERS
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