Q1: How did the business perform in 2025, and what drove its growth over the past year? How has the cost-income ratio trended this year, and what were the key factors influencing it? Looking ahead, what are your main priorities and strategic plans for 2026?

2025 has been a year of steady progress despite persistent market volatility, driven in part by policy uncertainty surrounding US trade and tariff measures. Our business performance remained resilient, supported by strong client engagement, healthy net new money inflows, and close regional collaboration. We continued to see growth in both AUM and revenue, driven by deepened client relationships and stronger advisory engagement efforts that led to increased take-up of our investment solutions.

Our cost-to-income ratio remained stable this year as we continued to enhance efficiency through digitisation and automation. The roll-out of our wealth web & mobile banking platform has empowered our clients with greater transparency and control over their portfolios, while enabling us to manage cost more effectively. 

As we look ahead to 2026, our priorities are clear. First, we will continue to deepen regional synergies in key ASEAN markets to capture cross-border client opportunities. Second, we will continue to invest in our people by hiring the right talent with the ambition of adding over 300 sales staff to our bench strength across the region. We continue to strengthen the capabilities of our relationship managers by expanding our training curriculum to cover technical competencies, relationship mastery, and client engagement excellence. Finally, we will continue to enhance our digital capabilities to deliver a more seamless, personalised, and efficient wealth experience for our clients.

Q2: Looking at the investment outlook for 2026, which markets and asset classes are you prioritising for client portfolios to capture opportunities while managing risks? How are clients currently allocating their portfolios, and what trends are you seeing in DPM adoption and investment behaviour?

We have seen strong allocations to public equities at the start of the year, with flows now gradually shifting towards fixed income as yields stabilise. Clients are also showing growing interest in alternative assets such as private markets and gold, which offer diversification and attractive long-term potential.

Adoption of discretionary portfolio management continues to gain traction, as clients increasingly value the consistency and discipline of professional oversight. Discretionary macro strategies, in particular, have delivered stable returns with reduced volatility. These remain critical in today’s complex and unpredictable environment.

With the global economy expected to remain resilient, the macro environment will likely continue to be supportive of risk assets in 2026. Central banks, including the US Fed, are expected to continue easing, lending support to growth. However, with equity valuations now rich and credit spreads tight, investors will need to stay disciplined and discerning in their portfolio positioning.

AI momentum is set to continue, though the next phase of growth will depend on broader adoption across non-tech sectors. Investors may also look beyond the US and consider opportunities in markets such as China tech, where valuations offer a more compelling risk-reward balance.

The surge in power consumption from data centres and AI infrastructure is adding complexity to the fight against climate change.  Nevertheless, it does present long-term investment opportunities across new energy, energy storage, and smart-grid infrastructure, which underpin the next phase of sustainable growth.

Trade uncertainty may persist through new regional alliances, such as the Johor–Singapore Economic Zone, which could help mitigate risks and spur fresh investment opportunities. Beyond equities, fixed income should continue to offer stable carry returns amid a benign default outlook, while gold remains a key diversifier as central banks diversify their reserves.

If the past year has taught investors anything, it is the importance of staying invested through a well-diversified portfolio. This is an approach that has proven effective through shifting market conditions.

Q3: With artificial intelligence increasingly shaping the wealth industry, how has the firm leveraged technology and AI to transform processes and enhance value for both clients and the back office? What key technology upgrades were introduced in 2025, and what are your digital priorities for 2026 and beyond?

Artificial intelligence has become a key enabler of how we serve clients and operate more efficiently. In 2025, we accelerated our digital transformation journey by embedding AI and analytics into our wealth ecosystem.

We now use AI to deliver more hyper-personalised research and investment recommendations, helping clients make informed investment decisions. We have enhanced our wealth systems to equip our relationship managers with a 360° view of each client’s portfolio, enabling them to engage clients proactively and provide end-to-end solutions that go beyond wealth.

Looking to 2026 and beyond, we will continue to build on these foundations. Our priorities include expanding GenAI applications to support research generation, portfolio analytics, and to streamline client onboarding and KYC processes. Ultimately, our goal is to combine the best of human expertise with intelligent technology to deliver a seamless, personalised, and secure client experience.

Q4: The private banking industry saw a plethora of leadership and structural changes in 2025. Looking into 2026, what are your key priorities for attracting and retaining talent across the front, middle, and back office? Are there plans for new hires in key markets?

Our people continue to be the cornerstone of our success. In 2025, we strengthened our talent bench across the front, middle, and back office, attracting seasoned professionals drawn to Maybank’s collaborative culture, strong platform, and regional connectivity. More importantly, they are drawn to our commitment to humanising financial services, which is a commitment we show not only in how we lead and support our teams, but also in how we engage clients and partners with empathy, trust, and a focus on doing what is right.

In 2026, our focus will be on investing in continuous learning and enhancing our training modules to equip relationship managers with deeper technical, digital, and advisory capabilities. We believe in developing and promoting talent from within, which is why we are focused on creating clear career pathways that enable progression across the wealth continuum, from Privilege to Premier to Private, and allowing our people to grow alongside their clients.

We continue to selectively expand in key markets where we see rising demand from entrepreneurs and family offices. I believe that a strong, values-driven culture and teamwork will remain our greatest differentiator as we look to the future.