Q1: Private banks in Asia have faced a number of challenges in 2024, from uncertainty around interest rate cuts in the US to volatile markets and geopolitical tensions. Considering this background, how did you safeguard AUM and revenue streams in 2024, while also attracting net new assets? What will your strategy be in 2025?

Private banking in Thailand has continued to evolve toward reducing local market bias, driven by the limited breadth and depth of local opportunities. Although the global environment has presented many challenges, there are substantial opportunities to guide Thai investors toward global markets.

In 2024, we focused on expanding our clients’ exposure to underrepresented asset classes, particularly alternatives. We successfully introduced several new products, including a range of private credit, private equity, and hedge fund strategies, offered in both direct and semi-liquid fund formats.

Navigating global markets also means addressing key concerns around tax and currency risk. Given the uncertainty surrounding the new offshore income tax and the volatility in USD/THB exchange rates, many Thai investors – who still measure their wealth in baht – face added complexity. To ease these concerns, we partnered with local fund houses to develop tax-friendly investment structures with built-in hedging solutions, blending global expertise with local relevance.

Looking forward to 2025, we will continue to introduce alpha-generating products, but with a heightened emphasis on core portfolio construction to support more consistent client outcomes. By encouraging discretionary portfolios over transactional activity, we can help minimise the effects of behavioural biases in investment decisions.

Effective implementation will be essential. Simply adding core portfolio adoption to RM performance metrics may not fully serve clients’ needs and could affect the client experience. Thus, it’s vital that every part of our firm communicates a unified message about the benefits of core portfolio strategies, helping clients remain steady in the face of an uncertain global landscape.

Q2: How are you advising clients in terms of investment opportunities in 2025? Which markets and asset classes will provide the best opportunities? And how can clients balance leveraging these opportunities while managing risks to their portfolios?

In 2025, our approach will focus on precise, diversified strategies to capture opportunities while safeguarding portfolios against evolving risks. Within equities, we continue to favour the US market, supported by fiscal strength, deregulation, and a robust earnings outlook. However, we are actively advising clients to diversify beyond megacap tech stocks, which have dominated recent gains. Equal-weight S&P 500 ETFs offer an effective way to achieve this broader exposure, reducing concentration risk while capturing the benefits of a more balanced growth trajectory. Japanese equities also present a compelling opportunity, driven by improving domestic fundamentals and reflationary trends, with the financial sector standing out due to potential regulatory easing and favourable income dynamics.

In fixed income, we emphasise high-quality bonds as essential risk diversifiers. Moderate-duration bonds are particularly attractive, offering higher yields than recent cycles while being less sensitive to fiscal concerns and more responsive to Federal Reserve easing. For credit investments, we recommend focusing on higher-quality issuers while selectively adding high-yield exposure for incremental returns. This approach balances income generation with manageable risk, especially as credit fundamentals improve under a pro-business environment.

For clients seeking enhanced risk-adjusted returns, alternatives and structured products play a key role. Hedge fund strategies introduced in 2024 remain integral, given their historically low correlation to equities and bonds. For conservative investors, capital-protected structured notes tied to preferred equity or credit markets allow participation in upside potential while mitigating downside risks, which is particularly valuable amid potential policy-driven market volatility.

Finally, core portfolio construction remains critical. We are intensifying efforts to enhance asset allocation through discretionary portfolio management and targeted advisory recommendations, leveraging the renewed diversification benefits of equities and bonds. This disciplined, adaptable approach positions clients to capitalise on growth opportunities while staying resilient in the face of macroeconomic and policy uncertainties.

Q3: In 2024, the private banking industry witnessed organisational restructurings, leadership reshuffles, as well as heavyweight departures. Looking forward, what are the priorities for your private bank in terms of attracting and retaining talent across the front, middle, and back office? What measures do you have in place for managing personnel transitions?

In 2024, Thailand’s private banking sector has seen considerable movement, with leadership changes and talent reshuffling across many firms. Fortunately, this has not been an issue for us. Our bank has maintained a stable and capable leadership team throughout, and we’re proud to report no regrettable losses despite intense competition and the arrival of new global players in the market.

This stability is no coincidence; it reflects our commitment to a clear strategic vision that remains consistent through leadership transitions. Private banking is a core pillar of our organisation’s growth strategy and integral to our long-term business objectives. Our performance management metrics and compensation schemes are thoughtfully designed to empower individuals to reach their full potential within the organisation, fostering growth opportunities that align with our mission and support long-term career development.

To provide excellent client service, we believe in building a robust end-to-end platform that spans the front, middle, and back office. Our commitment to investing in the back and middle office over recent years reflects this approach. We prioritise a balanced talent strategy, combining homegrown talent with select external hires. This ensures that we nurture potential from within while also embracing external expertise to drive growth.

With many industry players experiencing leadership transitions, this may be an ideal time for us to attract top lateral hires, reinforcing our already strong team and enhancing our capacity to serve clients with excellence across all functions.

Q4: Much hype has been made about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. What opportunities does AI present to your financial institution, and how does it fit into a broader strategy of technological upgrade and digitisation?

Private banking is inherently high-touch and relationship-driven, and we see tremendous potential in leveraging AI to enhance human capabilities and drive efficiency. Even before the recent surge in AI interest, we recognised the need to harness technology to improve our operations end-to-end, from back-office processing to front-line client interactions. What excites us about AI is its potential to elevate our service by seamlessly connecting with human-centred processes.

While the possibilities are vast, we’re still in the early stages of AI adoption. Currently, we’re focusing on practical applications that enhance productivity, such as automating meeting minutes, drafting routine communications, and optimising data management. To ensure we maximise AI’s impact, we’ve established a dedicated task force at the group level to explore high-impact use cases. We are taking a thoughtful approach, avoiding large, speculative investments and instead focusing on areas where AI can deliver clear, measurable value.

One such high-impact use case we’re exploring in private banking is the use of AI to replace the manual “four-eye” process in reviewing transaction voice logs. This could potentially save tens of thousands of hours on a high-stakes but low-value task, allowing us to reallocate resources toward more meaningful client interactions and decision-making.

Q5: With wealth clients being increasingly sophisticated, tech-savvy, and time-conscious, they are demanding more expertise and capabilities when it comes to discretionary portfolio management offerings. How is this reflected in your long-term approach to DPM in Asia and efforts to deepen client penetration of these solutions?

There’s no question about the value of discretionary portfolio management (DPM); it offers the most effective way to align clients’ views with real portfolio outcomes, free from behavioural biases.

As competition intensifies in the DPM space, it’s essential for us to establish a clear, well-rounded DPM value proposition. This includes committing both human and technological resources to ensure our DPM offerings are robust, efficient, and adaptive to clients’ evolving needs. Equally important is proactive client engagement through frequent communication, tailored interactions, and events to boost awareness and appreciation of DPM’s benefits. Aligning RM performance metrics with DPM goals ensures that every client touchpoint reinforces our commitment to DPM.

DPM also supports our broader objective of reducing local investment bias. As we aim to provide a world-class DPM solution, we recognise that clients may compare us to global banks. This makes it essential to partner with a top-tier global partner, allowing us to offer a tailored solution that meets the unique needs of Thai investors while benefiting from global expertise and best practices.