As offshore money flowed back into Indonesia through a well-documented tax amnesty programme, the scheme brought with it an unheralded hitchhiker: global standards. Aware of this, Bank Mandiri set out to upgrade its offering across the board, understanding that the fight to capture client mindshare and repatriated wealth will be settled by a world-class platform, sound investment advice, and a front office that constantly strives to achieve best-in-breed standards. Indicative of its success, Bank Mandiri in 2018 managed to draw in a sizeable chunk of client money and then redeploy by virtue of its best-in-class domestic solutions offering.

Mandiri Private fired off the opening salvo in the beginning of the year by inking a strategic partnership with Lombard Odier to broaden its solutions offering. In particular, Mandiri Private tapped into Lombard Odier’s global funds shelf and introduced risk-based discretionary portfolio management to Indonesian HNWIs, all the while leveraging the Swiss private bank’s centuries-old experience in investment advisory and wealth planning to service families.

Under the guidance of its CIO office, Mandiri Private also helped clients navigate particularly turbulent markets and generate sturdy returns for those who followed its calls closely. This was achieved, in part, through the bank’s existing partnerships with nine other investment managers, which collectively offer an array of solutions and specialised product expertise to domestic HNWIs — a market estimated to be worth US$661 billion in assets at the end of 2017, according to Capgemini’s Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2018.

To properly service existing clients and capture the growing number and wealth of prospects, Mandiri Private proactively invests in the quality of its staff to ensure that the frontline is equipped with the knowledge necessary to provide the market’s leading suite of private client services. Indeed, all of the bank’s relationship managers are required to undergo certification in various fields, including financial planning, insurance, and risk management.

The success of Mandiri Private’s training programmes is evidenced by the fact that NNA grew in spite of a stable headcount, with over 40% of new assets contributed from brand new clients. Productivity per relationship manager also surged in line with NNA, leading to double-digit revenue growth — a worthy achievement considering the challenging market conditions of 2018.

All this points to another strong year for Mandiri Private, which has continued to outperform its peers through an expanded offering, robust investment advice, and constant talent development.

Bank Mandiri is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Indonesia Domestic for 2018.