Bank of Singapore’s new head of Greater China wants to increase the private bank’s Hong Kong AUM by 50% within three years, as he looks to ramp up relationship manager (RM) hiring in the city.
Since joining Bank of Singapore at the start of 2024 after 10 years in senior private banking roles at Credit Suisse, Rickie Chan has increased RM headcount in Hong Kong by 15%. The lender covers clients across Greater China from the city.
“This is the best time for us to grow the business while many banks are scaling back for different reasons. In my 30 years of banking experience, I have never seen so many people looking for jobs in this way,” Chan, who is also chief executive at Bank of Singapore’s Hong Kong branch, told Asian Private Banker. The Singapore-based bank’s expansion stands in contrast to some other banks that have been cutting roles in Asia.
Room to grow
Chan, whose last role at Credit Suisse was head of private banking for Greater China, brought senior bankers Irene Wat and Alex Law to Bank of Singapore with him. He has also hired from other big private banks such as HSBC Global Private Banking and BNP Paribas Wealth Management.
Bank of Singapore Hong Kong branch hires in 2024
| Name | New title | Old firm | Old title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Irene Wat | market head, Greater China | Credit Suisse | market leader for Hong Kong market, wealth management APAC |
| Alex Law | team head, Greater China | Credit Suisse | team leader for Greater China |
| Cedric Chan | team head, Greater China | HSBC | senior private banker |
| Liza Wan | executive director | BNP Paribas | executive director |
| Crystal Liao | managing director | Credit Suisse | managing director |
| Pauline Or | senior relationship manager | Credit Suisse | executive director |
| Kevin Wang | senior relationship manager | Credit Suisse | N/A |
“In my four months at Bank of Singapore, I speak to candidates almost every single day. I have spoken to 40 or 50 RM candidates already. So the near-to-medium strategy is to expand RMs and the front office,” Chan said. Bank of Singapore’s global RM headcount hit 450 as of April, from 400 in 2023.
“We still have room to grow. When you look at banking, the most important asset is the people, so if we can take advantage of the current slow environment, we can hire very good quality people.”
“We have a pretty ambitious target for the Hong Kong branch, so starting this year, [the beginning of 2024] to [the end of] 2026, we want to grow our AUM by 50% and new hiring will be a big part of the game.” Bank of Singapore had a global AUM of US$116 billion as of 2023, according to APB Insights data, but it does not disclose its AUM in Hong Kong.
However, he insists that the bank will be selective in terms of hiring. “We can hire 50 to 60 RMS in a very short time but we don’t want to do that. We want to pick the right quality with the cultural fit.”
“This is the best time for us to grow the business while many banks are scaling back for different reasons”
As well as hiring, Chan is also focused on retaining talent. The bank’s vice-chair for Greater China and former head of Greater China, Teresa Lee, recently departed for UBP. But Chan does not expect to see further senior departures, claiming “people can see the tailwind behind the bank”.
“As long as the bank is treating their employees well, and we have a very strong management team in place, I don’t think our RMs will leave. Bank of Singapore, from my perspective, is on the way up, and we have a lot of tailwind behind us.”
“In fact, I was very impressed that none of the candidates I have interviewed said no to Bank of Singapore,” Chan asserted.
Adding value for clients
One challenge that private banks have faced in Hong Kong is high interest rates, meaning clients are reluctant to put money to work. But in Chan’s view, this provides an opportunity to provide advice to clients that goes beyond investments, such as on succession planning.
“This is the norm that once in a while you will see a low activity environment,” he explained. “And for me, my bankers, and the people that I hire, we always look at things for the long-term relationship. We don’t just look at how many trades we do today. This is not what we do and how we add value to our clients.”
Armed with one of the oldest trust businesses in Singapore, Bank of Singapore has seen its revenue from wealth planning in Greater China (including Singapore-booked but Hong Kong-managed accounts) double from the start of 2022 to the end of 2023.
Not a zero-sum game
Under global CEO Jason Moo’s five pillars of growth strategy, family offices are one of Bank of Singapore’s focuses in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Since the Hong Kong government rolled out incentives to attract family offices from around the world last year, Chan said the bank is increasingly receiving enquiries about setting up family offices in the city.
“There are also clients who want to set up in both cities – Hong Kong and Singapore. It is not a zero-sum game.”
In the next piece, Chan will share with Asian Private Banker why he joined Bank of Singapore and what differentiates Bank of Singapore’s one bank collaboration with other shops.
