BS Group’s private banking unit has seen its business activity rebound to pre-COVID levels, with robust growth in the private banking business led by family offices. According to Joseph Poon, Head of DBS Private Bank, "they pretty much see Singapore as a lighthouse to the region."
The reality is that family offices from Europe and the USA are increasingly looking to diversify to Asia as the world’s fastest-growing wealth market, but how does this impact Singapore's private banking & wealth management industry? Andrew Zee, SVP of Private Banking and Wealth Management at Selby Jennings Singapore, shared his view with Asian Private Banker.
Opportunities in private banking & wealth management
"We are seeing a trend that both Western private bankers working in APAC, and foreign-educated Asian private bankers working in Europe or the USA, are considering moving back to their native countries," said Zee.
According to Swiss bank UBS’ new Billionaires Insights Report 2020, APAC has more billionaires than any other region. Excitingly, according to Knight Frank’s Wealth Report 2020, Asia’s UHNWI population growth outpaces other global regions, while Singapore’s UHNWI population is set to grow by 29% by 2024. It's no surprise that we see billionaire Ray Dalio set to open a family office in Singapore, as well as JPMorgan recently announcing they are going to double Singapore private bankers for Chinese clients. The opportunities in Singapore's private wealth sector are promising.
Supportive government policies
The Singapore government has been very supportive of local Singaporeans. Since June 2020, the Ministry of Manpower has been tightening the foreign workers work pass and other fair hire regulations to support “Singaporean first”. Recently, Singapore told firms to hire more locals to earn incentives under COVID-19 stimulus jobs’ growth scheme, which makes Singaporean returnees feel welcomed.
More potential vacancies
While the government is tightening the foreign workers' work pass in Singapore, Employment Pass application time has been extended to around a month or two, compared to around two weeks previously. Although this is just a delay due to the lockdown, foreigners have left Singapore.
“This is mainly due to either a restructuring of their roles, or they decided that because of the pandemic it made more sense to return home and be with their family or loved ones. In some instances, professionals preferred to return home and have a career change,” explained Zee.
On top of that, over the last few years Singapore banks have been cutting expat bankers’ benefits, to the point that most banks are now “doing away” with expat packages. As of now, there is a sharp drop in foreigners relocating to Singapore, down 2% to 1.64 million, leaving more potential vacancies on the table for Singaporeans.
We have the skillsets
There has been an increasing focus on business in mainland China. In June, Reuters reported that leading private banks plan to increase staff managing Chinese and Hong Kong wealth offshore by up to a third, largely focusing on Singapore. Because of this, 80-90% of employers consider the ability to communicate in Mandarin a must, compared to a decade ago where only 45-50% of employers had a slight preference for bankers able to speak Mandarin.
This actually has made the private banking industry less appealing to expats. However, according to the population census, Mandarin is the most frequently spoken language at home for Singaporeans. Furthermore, the Singapore government promotes Mandarin among Singaporean Chinese people, since it views the language as a bridge between Singapore's diverse non-Mandarin speaking groups, and as a tool for forging a common Chinese cultural identity. China's economic rise in the 21st century has also encouraged greater use of Mandarin, so Singaporeans have the advantage in terms of required language skills.
Coming home to Singapore?
Opportunities in Singapore within the private banking space are booming. If you are looking to come home and find a new role, contact our specialist talent team or explore financial sciences & services jobs in Singapore.