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Joelton
Supreme |
30-Jul-2026 10:01
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OCBC to use agentic AI to cut wealth onboarding time to 15 business days [SINGAPORE] OCBC is looking to cut onboarding time for its wealth clients to 15 business days using agentic artificial intelligence. Called Helios, the platform will comprise five separate agents that will cut time for the bank down from the current industry median of around six weeks, the lender said on Wednesday (Jul 29). This follows announcements by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to reduce account opening timelines in the private banking industry to within one month, by the end of 2026. Loretta Yuen, OCBC&rsquo s head of group legal and compliance, said: &ldquo This is a paradigm shift for compliance where we are not just enabling business, but originating opportunities.&rdquo OCBC noted that the bank has been working to cut onboarding time, with its current average more than 30 days. &ldquo The beauty of the system was it was built by compliance,&rdquo said Bank of Singapore (BOS) CEO Jason Moo. &ldquo It wasn&rsquo t built by the tech person or from the business side, (the compliance team) can build their standards already into the system.&rdquo The Helios platform will move the due diligence process before the relationship manager meets a prospective customer. It will provide relationship managers with individuals&rsquo key data, information and credit risk profiles upfront while highlighting information gaps. This enables relationship managers to quickly obtain the missing data from customers and reduces the back-and-forth between the customer, relationship manager and the bank&rsquo s compliant unit. The time freed up for the compliance unit will also allow it to pivot to advisory research or perform more AI-related analyses. The current industry practice is for know-your-customer screenings and risk assessments to be conducted only after the relationship manager submits source of wealth information. OCBC&rsquo s private banking unit BOS has tested the platform on 25 per cent of its relationship managers over the past five months. The platform is set to be rolled out across BOS by the third quarter of 2026. OCBC also plans to extend Helios to its premier private clients by the end of 2026. Four of the five agents are already in play. The first agent conducts prospect research, which supports pre-onboarding due diligence. The second is in charge of onboarding recommendation, which highlights remaining profile gaps. The next one is a leads generator, which identifies associates of current prospects and helps relationship managers identify higher-quality leads. The fourth is an independent agent that checks the other agents for accuracy. OCBC noted that most information will be verified and checked by this agent, and whatever remains will be checked by a human. The fifth agent that looks at ongoing monitoring of existing clients is set to be ready by the first half of 2027. |
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Checkerman
Master |
22-Jul-2026 10:05
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sell on news
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Joelton
Supreme |
22-Jul-2026 09:49
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CGSI downgrades OCBC, UOB to &lsquo hold&rsquo lifts OCBC&rsquo s, DBS&rsquo s target prices CGS International analysts Tay Wee Kuang and Tan Jie Hui have downgraded Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank (UOB) to &ldquo hold&rdquo from &ldquo add&rdquo previously after shares in both banks have run up recently. As at July 20, shares in OCBC are up by some 45% year to date while shares in UOB are up by around 22%. &ldquo Since June 9, UOB&rsquo s share price has risen by around 15.1%, which we believe reflects expectations of normalisation of its profitability following pre-emptive provisions undertaken in 3QFY2025,&rdquo write Tay and Tan in a July 17 report. &ldquo As such, we keep our estimates unchanged but downgrade UOB to &lsquo hold&rsquo following the positive share price performance, and hence reduced return.&rdquo Ahead of its 2QFY2026 results, slated to be announced on Aug 7, Tay and Tan expect UOB to report core patmi of $1.41 billion, 5.2% up y-o-y, but 1.9% down q-o-q, on the back of stable banking operations on a q-o-q basis. The analysts also expect the bank to report a quarterly revenue of $3.46 billion, 0.3% down y-o-y, but 1% up q-o-q, as growth in non-interest income likely offset a subdued net interest income. While NII is supported by the stable Singapore overnight rate average (Sora) for 2Q2026 on a q-o-q basis, as well as a rebound in industry loans growth in April and May, competition for quality borrowers may limit asset yields for the bank. That said, the analysts note that easing tensions in the Middle East should have lifted investor confidence, supporting continued growth in overall net fee and commission income, as well as growth in other non-interest income, which includes trading income. The anlysts expect other non-interest income to be up by 1.4% y-o-y and 8.2% q-o-q. UOB is also likely to see one-off gains from the divestments it made during the quarter. On May 15, the bank announced that it was disposing its interest in Novena Square and 230 Orchard Road for a total consideration of $387 million. According to its disclosures, the net asset value (NAV) of its interests in the assets amount to $143.1 million, which implies a one-off gain of $243.9 million for the transactions and thereby translating to an incremental $200 million to Tay and Tan&rsquo s 2QFY2026 patmi estimates. &ldquo UOB said the transactions are part of the group&rsquo s capital reallocation strategy, which we believe could include continued investments in its wealth management franchise as well as IT spend,&rdquo they write. In 2QFY2026, the analysts estimate credit costs to come in at 29 basis points (bps), which falls within management&rsquo s guidance of 25 bps to 30 bps for FY2026. The estimate comes as general provision (GP) recognition normalises compared to the reversals over the past two quarters. Despite the downgrade, Tay and Tan have maintained their target price of $42.60 for UOB. Based on its payout ratio of 50%, the bank provides an FY2026 yield of 3.9%. While Tay and Tan have made no changes to UOB&rsquo s estimates, the analysts have increased OCBC&rsquo s target price to $28.40 from $26 previously. They have also raised their earnings per share (EPS) estimates for FY2026, FY2027 and FY2028 by 2.1% per year, driven by synergies between the bank&rsquo s wealth management and insurance franchise. For 2QFY2026, Tay and Tan expect OCBC to report a net profit of $1.93 billion, 6.4% higher y-o-y, but 2.1% lower q-o-q, supported by continued growth in non interest income. The analysts also expect the bank to announce a quarterly revenue of $3.83 billion, up 8.1% y-o-y and 0.1% q-o-q, for the same reasons. &ldquo With the gradual improvement in market conditions recently amidst the Middle East crisis, which began at [the] end [of] February, we believe investor confidence picked up in 2Q2026, supporting elevated wealth management fees (+43.4% y-o-y, -5.2% q-o-q), while contribution from its insurance business in Great Eastern likely mirrored 1QFY2026, during which income from life and general insurance grew by 33.7% y-o-y and 81.0% q-o-q,&rdquo they write in their July 21 report. &ldquo The stabilisation of macroeconomic conditions also reinforces our view that OCBC&rsquo s asset quality will remain intact, with 2QFY2026 credit costs stable q-o-q at 23 bps. We see scope for OCBC to realise synergies between its wealth management and insurance franchise, prompting us to raise our EPS by 2.1% over FY2026-FY2028,&rdquo they add. That said, following the re-rating in OCBC&rsquo s share price, the analysts believe the bank will see its shares increase further only after it demonstrates better return on equity (ROE) expansion, something, which they expect to manifest in FY2028 after the integration of HSBC Indonesia&rsquo s wealth management business. This is expected to be completed in mid-2027, according to OCBC. The bank is also likely to see a lower yield of 3.2% in FY2027 - inferior to DBS&rsquo s 4.8% and UOB&rsquo s 4.5% - after it completes its capital return exercise by the end of FY2026 and reverts back to its core dividend payout of 50%. Tay and Tan&rsquo s new target price is based on a lowered market risk premium assumption of 5.5% from 6%, which translates to a lower cost of equity of 7.8% from 8.4% previously. OCBC is also slated to release its results on Aug 7. CGSI sees attractive yield lasting till FY2027 for DBS Meanwhile, Tay and Tan are bullish on DBS Group Holdings&rsquo prospects, as they maintain their &ldquo add&rdquo call with a higher target price of $77.10 from $69.90. Ahead of the bank&rsquo s results, to be announced on Aug 6, the analysts expect DBS to report a quarterly net profit of $2.9 billion, 2.7% higher y-o-y but 1% down q-o-q, thanks to elevated wealth management fees and other non interest income. &ldquo Following a record high wealth management fee achieved in 1QFY2026, we believe DBS sustained similar levels of wealth management fee in 2QFY2026, supporting a 19.7% y-o-y and 1.7% q-o-q increase in non-interest income, alongside favourable markets trading income given the volatility of bond yields within the quarter as the Middle East crisis unfolded during 2QFY2026,&rdquo the analysts write in their July 21 report. They believe the bank&rsquo s asset quality has unlikely to have deteriorated given its GP buffer of $2.4 billion that, they believe, was enough to sustain its guided credit cost of 17 bps to 20 bps for FY2026. That said, DBS is likely to see NII decline by 4.4% y-o-y and 0.2% q-o-q on the back of a 1 bps q-o-q decline in net interest margin (NIM), due to a relatively stable Sora and a pick-up in loan growth, both on a q-o-q basis. Potential for special DPS amid pause in $3 billion share buyback programme Given that there is a pause in its $3 billion share buyback programme for FY2025 to FY027 with $2.63 billion left, Tay and Tan surmise that the bank could declare a special dividend per share (DPS) of up to 92.6 cents by end FY2027. This will bring its total estimated FY2027 DPS to $3.48, bringing its yield to an attractive 6.1%. Despite a re-rating in DBS' s shares, the analysts believe the bank&rsquo s superior ROE and FY2027 yield of 4.8% justifies its premium valuation. Their higher target price is based on a lower market risk premium assumption of 5.5% from 6%, which translates to a lower cost of equity of 7.8% from 8.4%. In addition to their target price increase, Tay and Tan have raised their FY2026, FY2027 and FY2027 EPS by 2.4%, 3.6% and 3.8% respectively. As at 3.40pm, shares in DBS, OCBC and UOB are trading at $72, $28.77 and $42.89 respectively. |
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MrBear12
Supreme |
11-Jul-2026 20:20
Yells: "Cast all our anxieties on Jesus for He cares for us" |
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30 coming our way
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Joelton
Supreme |
11-Jul-2026 14:03
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Reality check on sustainability not necessarily a setback: OCBC&rsquo s Mike Ng The strategies and stories that shape today&rsquo s leaders [SINGAPORE] Installing solar panels on the rooftop of his residential property has made Mike Ng more intentional about how he uses electricity. The solar panels were installed less than three months ago and already, his family has started scheduling activities such as laundry, water heating and the charging of his electric vehicle according to the weather. &ldquo I really think it&rsquo s quite cool that the electrons generated on my rooftop are going straight to my EV. In fact, these days I charge my EV only during daytime, and I&rsquo ll look at the cloud cover as well. So, if the sun is shining very brightly, I&rsquo ll take the chance to plug it in immediately,&rdquo said Ng, who is 54 years old. Since his appointment as group chief sustainability officer (CSO) at OCBC &ndash a new role created by South-east Asia&rsquo s second-largest bank in 2023 &ndash Ng had been contemplating installing solar panels at home, but found the installation process to be quite complicated. However, costs have since come down, efficiency has improved and the installation process has become more seamless. This ultimately sealed the decision for Ng, who has been central to OCBC&rsquo s green initiatives since 2018. A veteran banker who mostly did project financing for fossil fuel companies in the power sector for most of his career, Ng was roped into developing sustainable finance solutions for the bank after he started handling more solar and wind power projects in 2017. He then took on the role of head of sustainability office at OCBC&rsquo s global wholesale banking department in 2022, before being appointed CSO in August 2023. His experience installing solar panels at home reflects the principles that guide his professional work in sustainable finance. &ldquo If you look at sustainability, most of the solutions that are successful are those where the environmental benefits and the economic incentives align. That&rsquo s also how I think about sustainable finance. The goal is not to force sustainability into the economy. The goal is to make sustainability part of how the economy creates value,&rdquo said Ng in an interview with The Business Times. The next phase of sustainable finance The emphasis on economic viability, Ng believes, will define the next phase of sustainable finance. Once the darling of investors and corporate executives, the field of ESG has been undergoing a reckoning over the last year or so as the space has come under scrutiny from multiple sides. Some critics have questioned the credibility of corporates&rsquo and investors&rsquo green efforts, while others argued that it was becoming unrealistic. Some of these knock-on effects are felt in Singapore. Regulators here have pushed back mandatory sustainability reporting for companies, while Singapore investment company Temasek has acknowledged that it is unlikely to meet its 2030 interim decarbonisation targets. Ng views these developments less as a setback for sustainability, than as a necessary stage of maturation, where the focus is no longer just on setting targets, but also about the credibility of these goals and delivery plans. &ldquo Sustainability went through a phase that I thought (may) have gotten a little bit overzealous,&rdquo he said. &ldquo So it&rsquo s a good thing, I would argue, that everyone is taking a step back to do a bit of a stock take and really figure out what is important, and the important thing is to help the real economy transition.&rdquo Ng has been the bank&rsquo s first CSO for just under three years, but the sustainable financing space has changed significantly within that short amount of time. He likened his journey as a tale of two halves: The first half saw strong global momentum for the net-zero commitment, while the second half is characterised by a recalibration of these ambitions. &ldquo So moving from ambition to execution, from broad commitments to practical pathways, and from a narrative-led approach to one that is grounded in economics, risk management and real-world constraints,&rdquo said Ng. This requires tackling harder questions, especially in the context of Asia where markets are at different stages of their energy transition. &ldquo Sustainability in Asia is fundamentally about transition, not just end-state targets. The region has diverse energy needs and developmental priorities, so the pathway has to be more tailored and inclusive... The transition will look different across markets, and that diversity needs to be recognised,&rdquo he noted. This shift has brought about more honest conversations about trade-offs, costs and timelines. But what matters is that financiers and corporates continue to move towards the right direction, while being pragmatic about the pace and recognising that progress might not be linear. Ultimately, it is about balancing idealism and realism. &ldquo In the early phase, the conversation was driven more by idealism. Now it&rsquo s about aligning the ambition with technological visibility, policy support, financial viability and societal needs. Sustainability works only if it&rsquo s grounded in economics and real-world constraints, and transition works only if it is just and inclusive,&rdquo added Ng. No perfect answers, but better trade-offs Even though ESG has lost its momentum, banks are still facing greater scrutiny over their financing activities as stakeholders focus more on credibility and the real-world impact of climate commitments. Over the last few years, all three local banks have been criticised over some of the deals they have participated in. More recently, a complaint was lodged with the Singapore Exchange against OCBC, alleging disclosure gaps over its financing of Indonesian nickel miner Harita Nickel. For Ng, it essentially comes down to navigating trade-offs, knowing that the end result would not likely please everyone. &ldquo We need to recognise that the transition is complex and there are no perfect answers, only better trade-offs... What I&rsquo ve learnt is that sustainability is rarely about choosing between a good option and a bad option,&rdquo he said. There are multiple priorities that need to be balanced: reducing emissions, meeting rising energy demand, ensuring energy remains affordable and maintaining energy security. While all are important, they do not always align and can at times pull in different directions. &ldquo The role of a bank is not to pretend that those trade-offs don&rsquo t exist... At the end of the day, the question is not whether every decision we make will satisfy every stakeholder, because that&rsquo s unlikely. The more important question is whether we are helping to support a transition that is credible, practical, and inclusive for the economies and the communities that we serve,&rdquo he added. Having to navigate such complexities has meant that the skill sets required of a bank CSO far extends beyond that of a conventional banker. To be an effective CSO, Ng has learnt that being up to speed on various disciplines &ndash policy, technology, geopolitics, as well as behavioural and societal trends &ndash are needed as sustainability often sits at their intersection. This is all the more crucial given that sustainability is a constantly evolving field as investors&rsquo expectations shift, regulations get updated and technologies improve. Being able to engage with a wider system of stakeholders is also key. &ldquo Most other C-suite positions have rather clearly defined functional boundaries. Sustainability, on the other hand, cuts across virtually every part of the organisation. So the role is less about owning a single function, and more about connecting different parts of the organisation and understanding developments outside the bank, and helping the bank navigate a rapidly changing environment,&rdquo said Ng. &ldquo A good CSO... requires as much curiosity as expertise, because the issues are evolving so quickly that no one can claim to have all the answers, and the most important thing is to keep learning and to remain open to new perspectives.&rdquo Three questions with OCBC&rsquo s group chief sustainability officer Mike Ng Q: Was there a pivotal moment in your career or personal life that changed your approach to leadership? It&rsquo s not so much a single moment, but more a series of self-discoveries as I took on broader responsibilities. Early on in my career, I was very focused on decision-making through the lens of completeness. I wanted to gather as much data and information as possible and tried to get as close to 100 per cent certainty. I realised that this approach was not sustainable. In many real-world situations, data is imperfect, and waiting for complete information is often not an option. So that was an important shift for me, learning to get comfortable making decisions with just 70 per cent of the information. The second shift came in how I thought about teams. Early on, when I was building my project finance team, I naturally tended to hire people with similar backgrounds to myself, which worked well in more narrowly defined settings. As my responsibilities expanded, I began to appreciate that complexity requires diversity of thinking. So I now place much greater value on building teams with a wide range of perspectives and skills, even when that creates more debate and friction. In fact, that friction is often what improves decision quality. Q: What is one piece of &ldquo unconventional wisdom&rdquo you swear by that most business schools would tell you is wrong? Good leaders should be willing to change their minds. Early on in my career, I assumed that senior leaders had strong convictions because they have all the answers (but)... the more experience I gain, the more I appreciate the complexity of the issues that I&rsquo m dealing with. I&rsquo m also much more conscious of what I don&rsquo t know, and I think humility is important because nobody knows what they don&rsquo t know. That has made me much more comfortable revisiting assumptions and changing my views. We place too much value on consistency and not enough value on adaptability in a rapidly changing world. Q: When you feel burnout creeping in, what&rsquo s your non-business-related &ldquo panic button&rdquo activity or routine that reliably resets your focus? Hiking. It strips life down to its essentials. In banking, everything feels urgent. Everything, everywhere all at once. When I&rsquo m walking a trail, none of those things matter at that moment. My focus narrows to the next step, the weather, the scenery, the terrain, and in some cases, making sure that I do not run into bears. After spending months dealing with complex problems, it&rsquo s nice to spend a few days focused on something as straightforward as putting one foot in front of the other. When I&rsquo m climbing a mountain, the summit can sometimes look impossibly far away. It is critical that I stay positive with the confidence that I can do it and to deliberately remind myself to just enjoy the moment. That perspective gives me the confidence that other challenges can be overcome, although they could seem very daunting at the outset. Hiking reminds me that most challenges are solved the same way mountains are climbed &ndash one step at a time. |
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Joelton
Supreme |
11-Jul-2026 13:59
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OCBC keeps Singapore overweight for 2H2026 on steady yield and quality After an AI-charged first half, OCBC&rsquo s Carmen Lee says the second half will reward investors who pair growth with the steady yield of the Singapore market. Photo: Bloomberg An AI-charged first half In its equity strategy report Constructive on 2H26 outlook, OCBC lays out a first half powered by AI. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the 30 largest US-listed semiconductor companies and counts Nvidia, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices among its heaviest names, doubled with a gain of 101.1%. Korea&rsquo s Kospi rose by the same amount, while Taiwan&rsquo s Taiex added 59.3% and Japan&rsquo s Nikkei 225 climbed 39.2%. &ldquo Nvidia alone is now worth close to US$5 trillion ($6.4 trillion), larger than the economies of Japan or Germany,&rdquo OCBC&rsquo s Lee notes. That dominance cuts both ways. As most investors hold the same handful of AI names, crowded positions have made the market far more volatile, with sharp sell-downs in memory chips over recent weeks. Lee sees money rotating into cheaper, more stable corners of the market, including financials and long-neglected healthcare. &ldquo There&rsquo s going to be a lot of rotation into some of these undervalued companies.&rdquo For investors who still want AI exposure, senior equity analyst Wong suggests a barbell approach, keeping the chip names that are still delivering strong earnings on one end and adding beaten-down software and cybersecurity names on the other. &ldquo Demand is real and very different from what we saw during the dot-com bubble,&rdquo Wong says, with some chipmakers guiding that orders outstrip supply into 2027 and 2028. Singapore&rsquo s quiet outperformance Amid the volatility, the Straits Times Index returned 11.3% year to date, edging past the S& P 500&rsquo s 9.6% even without a single AI heavyweight among its ranks. Add in the dividend yield of about 4.4% and the total returns climb closer to about 15% to 16%, says Lee. Singapore may not have a listed chip champion of its own. Still, the city-state sits squarely within the AI investment cycle, plugged into three structural tailwinds: infrastructure demand, financial services adoption and government-led digitalisation. As a regional financial hub and data-centre nexus, the city-state hosts one of the highest concentrations of hyperscaler data-centre capacity in Asia Pacific, with Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta all committing to major expansions here and along the Johor corridor. For investors, that translates into direct, investable exposure through data-centre REITs and select technology and engineering plays on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), the report notes. Much of the credit goes to the Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP), the state-backed push launched in February 2025 to revive the local bourse. According to the report, average daily traded value on the SGX jumped 45% to $2.11 billion in 1H2026, and the STI gained 34% since the programme began, clearing the 5,000 level for the first time in February 2026. At 16.1 times current-year earnings, valuations sit just one standard deviation above the long-run average, which OCBC still reads as undemanding. The three lenders &mdash DBS Group Holdings, OCBC and United Overseas Bank (UOB) &mdash now yield about 4.8% to 4.9%, which Lee calls &ldquo almost like a giant REIT&rdquo . Despite her fondness for the sector, Lee left the trio out of OCBC&rsquo s stock picks this round, a rare omission after years of the banks anchoring her list. &ldquo I still like the banks, but this round we didn&rsquo t have them in the stock picks&hellip because they have performed tremendously,&rdquo she says, noting that all three banks have touched fresh highs. Valuations are &ldquo a bit more stretched than, say, six months ago&rdquo , she concedes, though the higher-for-longer rate backdrop and the near-5% yield should keep supporting the shares. DBS alone touched a share-price high of $67 in June. Fifteen names, six in property OCBC&rsquo s 15 preferred picks lean heavily towards real estate, a nod to the sector&rsquo s heavy representation in the Singapore market and to the value on offer after a weak run. The boldest upside sits with building-materials play Hong Leong Asia, with a fair value of $4.20 against a last close of $2.76, and CapitaLand Investment at $3.58, both pointing to gains of more than 40%. UOL Group at $12.87 rounds out the double-digit upside among the developers. Among real estate investment trusts (REITs), OCBC favours CapitaLand Ascendas REIT ($3.11), CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust ($2.67), CapitaLand India Trust ($1.30) and Keppel DC REIT ($2.78), the last for its direct data-centre exposure to the AI build-out. Wong stresses that cheap valuations alone will not spark a re-rating. &ldquo Valuations being cheap alone may not be sufficient,&rdquo he says, so the team hunts for trusts that can deliver sustainable distribution growth and hold strong balance sheets, with a clear bias towards Singapore assets. In industrials, ST Engineering ($12.50) remains OCBC&rsquo s top defence pick and the best performer among the 15 with a 23.4% ytd gain, riding on heavier global military spending. SIA Engineering ($4.00) is the preferred aviation name, as older aircraft keep maintenance shops busy, aided by a recent tie-up with Air India. Keppel ($13.60) and Sembcorp Industries ($7.48) offer exposure to data centres, power and renewables. The list also extends to consumer, telecoms, and healthcare. Plantation play Bumitama Agri ($2.20) is the pick on firmer palm oil prices with a near-6% yield. Singapore Telecommunications ($5.75) and NetLink NBN Trust ($1.12) anchor the yield-and-AI angle in telecoms, while Q& M Dental Group (76 cents) plays the ageing-population theme. &ldquo Your dentist and your doctor are always still needed,&rdquo Lee says of the sector&rsquo s staying power. Rates and risks OCBC expects the US Federal Reserve to hold the federal funds rate at its current 3.50%&ndash 3.75% range for the rest of the year, with the market even pricing in one hike by October. That higher-for-longer setting has punished REITs, which have returned &minus 4.5% ytd, yet they look cheap at 0.88 times book and a 6.2% forward distribution yield. &ldquo If our house view pans out, that potentially means markets were too hawkish previously, so there&rsquo s a possibility that share prices may see a bit of re-rating within the REITs space,&rdquo says Wong. Lee is upfront about the calm breaking. Sticky inflation, the US midterm elections in November, energy scarcity and the sheer concentration of AI holdings all sit on the risk list. &ldquo A rising tide lifts all boats, but when the tide goes out,&rdquo the OCBC report notes, that is when the resilience of a portfolio is truly tested. Going into the second half of the year, Lee expects a busier pipeline of initial public offerings (IPOs), including billion-dollar names rather than the small listings of years past, aided by a planned Global Listing Board tie-up between the SGX and Nasdaq. Beyond AI, OCBC is already eyeing the next frontier. Lim sees the crossover between technology and healthcare, powered by AI-driven drug discovery, as one of the market&rsquo s most promising long-term themes. But for now, Lim is keeping investors grounded in the fundamentals. &ldquo Quality is ultimately still the most important thing to us, because eventually the earnings per share growth has to be able to justify the valuations,&rdquo says Lim. Until then, Singapore&rsquo s blend of yield and stability remains the ballast every regional portfolio needs. |
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Joelton
Supreme |
11-Jul-2026 13:58
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RHB expects &lsquo decent&rsquo 2QFY2026 from OCBC, lifts target price to $29.80 The Singapore research team at RHB Bank Singapore is expecting Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) to report a &ldquo decent&rdquo set of results for the 2QFY2026 ended June, after meeting with the bank&rsquo s management for an update. As such, the team has kept its &ldquo buy&rdquo call with a higher target price of $29.80 from $26.20 previously. &ldquo For its upcoming results (out Aug 7), we estimate 2QFY2026 patmi could reflect mid-single-digit y-o-y growth, but the q-o-q increase could be more modest,&rdquo says the team in its July 9 report. The second quarter could also see &ldquo solid&rdquo momentum in loan growth, underpinned by housing loans, as well as loans towards sectors such as telecommunications, media and technology, and logistics. That said, the team is waiting for the bank to hold its results briefing to see if the run rate for the first half of the year is strong enough to prompt an upgrade by management. In 1QFY2026, OCBC&rsquo s loans grew by 8% y-o-y and 7% y-o-y on an annualised basis, both ahead of its mid-single-digit guidance. Pressure on OCBC&rsquo s y-o-y net interest margin (NIM) could also ease with the moderated y-o-y delta in the benchmark rate, coupled with the cut to OCBC&rsquo s flagship deposit rate in May. That said, the team expects the bank&rsquo s net interest income (NII) to continue to decline y-o-y, although the drop is likely to moderate further versus the mid- to high single digit decline posted in the past four quarters. On the non-interest income front, OCBC is expected to see a &ldquo healthy&rdquo y-o-y increase, which would also underpin growth in operating income. &ldquo We understand that the wealth momentum has been sustained amid the continued deployment of funds by customers across all wealth segments &ndash which is positive for both wealth fees and customer flow trading income,&rdquo says the team. &ldquo As for other fee line items, these look stable q-o-q,&rdquo it adds. The recent new regulation introduced by the Chinese authorities on outbound investments is also unlikely to materially impact OCBC&rsquo s business, as it mainly taps the offshore market, says the team. The bank, instead, believes there is room to &ldquo further expand and build up its presence in the affluent space in Hong Kong&rdquo , says RHB. Finally, the team believes OCBC&rsquo s asset quality remains &ldquo stable&rdquo . The bank has not observed any material developments during the quarter and its credit cost guidance of 20 basis points (bps) to 25 bps should remain &ldquo intact&rdquo . Its LLC of 149% includes tariff overlays that were built up last year and provision buffers for the Middle East conflict. This is &ldquo unlikely to be reversed&rdquo in the upcoming results. The bank also believes recent developments around hte commercial real estate sector indicate that the situation is &ldquo stabilising&rdquo . For FY2026, RHB estimates OCBC&rsquo s reported net profit to come in at $7.7 billion representing a net profit growth of 3.3%. Its higher target price is based on a lower cost of equity (COE) estimate and an unchanged environmental, social and governance (ESG) premium of 2%. Shares in OCBC closed at an all-time high of $27.43 on July 10, 38.19% up year to date. |
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Joelton
Supreme |
04-Jul-2026 14:09
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OCBC looks to customer journeys, avatar banking and data lakes for revenue growth As part of OCBC&rsquo s group CEO Tan Teck Long&rsquo s Next Frontier strategy, its consumer banking wealth management segment aims to onboard 600 relationship managers (RM) within three years. The bank does not reveal its current number of RMs. According to Sunny Quek, group managing director and head of global consumer financial services at OCBC, each RM can serve 250&ndash 300 customers. To increase the number of customers RMs can serve by multiples and grow the customer base, OCBC has launched OCBC WoW (whole of wealth). This app features two avatars, Wendy and Wayne, who deliver hyper-personalised wealth management services in real time, 24/7. The point of OCBC WoW is to get customers to transact more. The bottom line of OCBC&rsquo s new initiative is to grow the bank&rsquo s topline. More RMs imply more customers and more revenue. Quek expects to double the consumer bank&rsquo s wealth income by 2029. OCBC does not break out its wealth income between Bank of Singapore, OCBC Private Bank and the consumer bank. Wealth management income in FY2025 was $5.6 billion. The net fees from wealth management in FY2025 for the group (which includes Bank of Singapore) were $1.44 billion the bank (which may not include Bank of Singapore) recorded $498 million in wealth management fees, according to OCBC&rsquo s FY2025 annual report. When asked about tech spend, Tan says: &ldquo We don&rsquo t have a specific AI spend.&rdquo However, he acknowledges that the bank is likely to spend $1 billion &ldquo every year for the next few years&rdquo . The point of OCBC WoW is not about cost but about increasing revenue, though numbers were not shared during the media briefing. &ldquo We think about AI lowering our cost. We think of data ethics complementing the AI, so what we want is to do the same things at lower cost,&rdquo Tan says. Part of Next Frontier &ldquo When we crafted our Next Frontier strategy [we knew] that we were going to operate in a very complex and uncertain world. How do we navigate that? We need capabilities and good insights. Asia continues to see rising trade, investment and wealth flows. This allows the bank to intermediate capital, investment, trade and wealth flows. We also see a booming tech sector and continued interest in sustainability. This means that we can finance digital infrastructure, like the data centres, the tech supply chain, as well as renewables and the greening of industry,&rdquo says Tan in a media briefing. As part of its franchise shift, Next Frontier plans a localised strategy to expand its geographic franchise. &ldquo We split our franchises into two groups. The first are the twin hubs, Singapore and Hong Kong the other group, the Asean domestic market, comprises Malaysia and Indonesia. Right in the centre, occupying a very prominent space, is ADD, at our core, AI digital and data,&rdquo Tan explains, with AI as a tool and part of ADD. OCBC is building data lakes as part of the ADD strategy. Currently, Tan believes in focusing on &ldquo a customer-centric process, end-to-end, digitise where we need to digitise, re-engineer the process for digitisation, leverage data analytics better, and when AI is fit for purpose, we lock in the AI. The more we digitise, the more data capability we have as AI develops we can plug in AI more easily.&rdquo As Tan sees it, the more the bank digitises, the more data capability it will have as AI develops. &ldquo Why is it that we do not use AI at the beginning? That&rsquo s because not all AIs are equal. Some AI does the job very well some does not and some is really expensive to implement. Under the franchise shift in Singapore, one of the strategies which we are adopting is to leverage our three brands (OCBC, Bank of Singapore and Great Eastern Holdings). What we want to do is harness their products and curate value propositions for our customers where relevant, to support the whole of wealth strategy,&rdquo he elaborates. Tan spent three decades at DBS, the last 12 of which were during Piyush Gupta&rsquo s tenure as group CEO. Gupta had introduced the concept of digital value capture in 2017. Part of the process involved using DBS&rsquo s data lakes to understand the cost of acquiring a digital customer and the transactions they make. Based on the data, DBS found that, in consumer banking, customers began to show interest in its wealth products. Avatar banking The beta version of the OCBC WoW app will be released to a selected group of employees and customers on an invitation-only basis. Customers who are invited to sample OCBC WoW are currently served by OCBC Premier Private Client wealth advisors. These are customers with at least $1.5 million in assets under management. Subsequent phases of the beta version will be progressively rolled out, with enhancements driven by &ldquo iterative prototyping&rdquo and user feedback. The new platform is built on four technology architecture layers. The first layer comprises data ingestion of real-time market data, OCBC research and insights, and customers&rsquo portfolios, transaction data and behaviour sets the second layer integrates the AI deterministic guardrails into the platform The third layer involves using AI agents to build intelligence at scale the last layer generates the output modules that customers see and experience. Earlier this year, OCBC&rsquo s consumer banking unit rolled out a Gen AI-powered skills training programme for its wealth advisor force in Singapore. Within the first three months of training, wealth advisors demonstrated a high level of customer engagement, securing twice as many weekly client appointments as peers who had not yet completed the programme. There was also a 50% uplift in revenue compared with the previous three months. |
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Joelton
Supreme |
02-Jul-2026 13:35
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OCBC rolls out AI-native banking, to hire 600 relationship managers in wealth push [SINGAPORE] OCBC is going big on artificial intelligence even as it increases its human advisers in a bid to deepen its wealth push. South-east Asia&rsquo s second-largest bank is launching an app for its wealth customers that features digital avatars that act as 24/7 advisers. It is also set to hire 600 relationship managers over the next three years for its consumer banking business, the bank said on Wednesday (Jul 1). These are part of initiatives under the lender&rsquo s &ldquo next frontier&rdquo strategy, which aims to use AI, digital tools and data to boost growth. The new app, called OCBC WoW, will include two avatars that can provide hyper-personalised wealth management services in real time. AI-native banking generally refers to a banking platform where AI is built into the core architecture instead of being a standalone feature. OCBC expects this AI-native environment, where it uses the tech to tailor news and advice to individual customers&rsquo needs and preferences, will help meet customers&rsquo increasingly sophisticated needs and build deeper and stickier relationships. When asked how avatars differ from human advisers, OCBC group chief executive Tan Teck Long noted that the revenue and number of transactions linked to these two are &ldquo going to be very different&rdquo . Tan said: &ldquo (Customers) may&hellip want to discuss what we hope are simple things (with the avatar), and once they make up their mind, they can proceed to transact. But when it&rsquo s a little bit complex, they (may) want to bounce (their plans) off their relationship manager as well.&rdquo Sunny Quek, head of global consumer financial services at OCBC, noted: &ldquo Humans still want the human touch, so that&rsquo s where the relationship manager comes in.&rdquo Quek earlier told The Business Times that he planned on doubling the bank&rsquo s consumer banking wealth business by 2029. Tan said that the bank is looking to spend &ldquo north of S$1 billion&rdquo a year in the next few years to build infrastructure to support its AI initiatives. Avatar banking will help grow the lender&rsquo s business instead of reduce its workforce, as customers can engage with the bank through the avatars 24/7, before transacting through digital channels or their relationship managers, depending on the complexity or their needs, Tan added. He expects the move will create the &ldquo fourth wave of banking&rdquo : Instead of using AI to be a cost saving for the bank, the avatar-driven initiative is an area which can generate revenue. The beta version of OCBC WoW will be released to a selected group of employees and customers on an invitation-only basis. Customers who are invited are those with minimum assets under management of S$1.5 million and who are currently served by OCBC Premier Private Client wealth advisers. A fuller roll-out is expected at a date to be announced. The avatars will initially engage with customers in English while, languages such as Mandarin, Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia will be progressively introduced. The bank will also look to introduce tailored insurance solutions and banking services, a wider range of avatars, as well as deals and rewards. |
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Joelton
Supreme |
24-Jun-2026 09:32
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OCBC boosts hiring for Indonesia wealth business as assets rise OCBC plans to double the number of wealth advisers in Indonesia, part of a broader expansion after the Singapore lender agreed to buy HSBC Holdings&rsquo assets in the country. Relationship manager staffing will jump to 400 by the end of 2026 through hiring and internal transfers, the head of OCBC Indonesia Parwati Surjaudaja said in an interview from Jakarta. Client assets in the country have risen about 11 per cent to 127 trillion rupiah (about S$9.2 billion) from 2025, she said. OCBC&rsquo s plans for the wealth business underscore the bank&rsquo s ambitions for Indonesia following the move to buy HSBC&rsquo s retail and wealth assets in May. Chief executive officer Tan Teck Long, who started in his role on Jan 1, has touted the opportunity to bank the country&rsquo s rich as one of his key growth areas. While Indonesia&rsquo s wealthy are known for moving money to offshore centres including Singapore and Switzerland, the lower tax rates that apply to onshore financial assets may prompt investors to park more assets at home, Parwati said. For several years already, lenders in Singapore have been obliged to share information on clients&rsquo financial assets with Indonesian tax authorities, making it more difficult for the rich to hide overseas investments. After the HSBC deal, an investor had asked Parwati why OCBC bought the UK bank&rsquo s assets there given that the rich tend to move money offshore. &ldquo That is not true,&rdquo Parwati said in the interview, adding most Indonesians, except for some of the ultra-rich, prefer to keep assets in their home country. Clients who keep financial assets in Indonesia will be taxed up to 20 per cent for their investment returns including capital gains, while the rates are as high as 35 per cent for those kept offshore, she said. &ldquo Wherever you put the money, it will be reflected back to the authorities here,&rdquo said Parwati, who has spent more than 35 years in Indonesian banking. She joined her family firm Bank NISP in 1990, and OCBC increased its shareholding in the country&rsquo s fourth-oldest bank over the course of the following decade. Indonesia has seen fund outflows related to political instability before. The country ran tax amnesty programmes that offer citizens the chance to come clean on hidden funds, resulting in billions of dollars of previously undeclared assets. Singapore was the top origin of repatriated assets in the 2022 round. Wealth clients Singapore&rsquo s second-largest bank is eyeing two types of clients for its wealth business: those who can park one billion rupiah or more with the bank, as well as US dollar millionaires - those with at least 20 billion rupiah in assets, she said. For less wealthy customers, OCBC is looking to use digital channels, given the growing popularity of buying financial assets such as bonds and mutual funds online. To support its business, OCBC backs Indonesia&rsquo s plans to adopt a full universal banking model, Parwati said. Under the current system, banks must have separate legal entities for each business line, such as investment banking and insurance. Earlier in 2026, Indonesia&rsquo s Financial Services Authority said it was deliberating a shift to universal banking, which is common in most countries. The timeline for any change is not clear. While optimistic on the wealth business, OCBC&rsquo s outlook for other banking services including corporate lending is not as bright. Indonesia&rsquo s currency has plunged to a record low in 2026, while the stock market is among the world&rsquo s worst performers thanks to oil shocks and government policy uncertainties. The rupiah plunge prompted the central bank to deliver an off-cycle rate hike in June, before it tightened policy again for a third time in about a month. The economic headwinds and accelerating inflation are hitting the bank&rsquo s corporate clients, especially small and medium-sized companies. OCBC will spread out increases on loan rates to lessen the impact on customers, she said. &ldquo The macro environment is not good,&rdquo she said. &ldquo We also want to make sure that our borrowers also stay healthy.&rdquo BLOOMBERG |
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Joelton
Supreme |
30-May-2026 13:37
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OCBC stays &lsquo buy&rsquo on CLAS after &lsquo opportunistic divestment&rsquo of 336-key Clarke Quay hotel OCBC Group Research analyst Ada Lim is staying &ldquo buy&rdquo on CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAS) with an unchanged fair value estimate of 95 cents after its &ldquo opportunistic divestment&rdquo of The Robertson House by The Crest Collection in Singapore for $360 million, announced on May 29. The sale price of the proposed divestment to an unrelated third party is a 4.0% premium to an independent valuation of $346 million as at end-2025, according to CLAS. CLAS has declined to reveal the identity of the buyer. The sale price of the 336-unit hotel translates to an exit Ebitda yield of 2.3%, and CLAS will recognise a net gain of some $38.1 million from net proceeds of $341.7 million. The transaction is expected to be completed in 3Q2026. On a pro forma basis, had the divestment been completed on Jan 1, 2025, FY2025 distribution per stapled security (DPS) would have been 3.1% lower at 5.91 cents, while net asset value (NAV) per stapled security would remain unchanged at 1.17 Singapore cents. CLAS says net proceeds from the divestment may be deployed for investment in higher-yielding assets, to fund asset enhancement initiatives (AEIs), to repay higher-interest debt, and/or for general corporate purposes. &ldquo The divestment of The Robertson House by The Crest Collection at an attractive price of close to $1.1 million per key underscores CLAS&rsquo s disciplined approach to portfolio reconstitution,&rdquo says Serena Teo, CEO of the managers. Formerly the Riverside Hotel Robertson Quay, the hotel was rebranded as The Robertson House by The Crest Collection in October 2023 after a seven-month refurbishment. The hotel&rsquo s all-day dining restaurant Entrepô t is the first project by chef Nixon Low, who joined Ascott as its culinary and beverage operations director in May 2023 from the Tung Lok Group. Post-divestment, CLAS will have four lodging properties in Singapore. Three properties &mdash Ascott Orchard Singapore, lyf one-north Singapore and lyf Funan Singapore &mdash are operational. The fourth property, Somerset Clarke Quay Singapore, is currently under redevelopment. Formerly Somerset Liang Court Singapore, the 192-unit serviced residence with a hotel licence is on track to complete around end-2026 and is expected to begin contributing income progressively from early 2027, according to CLAS. Somerset Clarke Quay Singapore will form part of the CanningHill Piers integrated development, alongside the 475-key Moxy Singapore Clarke Quay (owned by CDL Hospitality Trusts) and the 696-unit joint residential development by CapitaLand Development and City Developments. In addition to the redevelopment of Somerset Clarke Quay Singapore, CLAS has four properties undergoing AEIs in 2026 and 2027. These properties are Citadines Place d&rsquo Italie Paris in France, The Cavendish London in the UK, Sotetsu Grand Fresa Osaka-Namba in Japan, and Sheraton Tribeca New York Hotel in the US. CLAS says the AEIs will enhance the assets&rsquo positioning to better capture lodging demand and uplift their value. CLAS is Asia-Pacific&rsquo s largest lodging trust, with 106 hotels, serviced residences, rental housing and student accommodation across 45 cities in 16 countries as at March 31. Singapore remains a key market for CLAS, says OCBC&rsquo s Lim in her May 29 report. &ldquo Barring a significant deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook, in part due to the Middle East conflict, we remain constructive on the Singapore hospitality sector, which we think will be supported by growing international arrivals and tourist receipts.&rdquo Accounting for the divestment, Lim trims her FY2026 and FY2027 DPS projections by 0.1% each. Lim likes CLAS&rsquo s exposure to the living sector &mdash including student accommodation in the US and rental housing in Japan &mdash where demand is &ldquo less likely to be affected by any weakening in the global macroeconomic outlook&rdquo . &ldquo We also see CLAS&rsquo s ongoing portfolio rejuvenation as a positive for long-term growth and sustainability.&rdquo CLAS offers a total returns potential of 13%, according to Lim, based on its May 28 close price of 89.5 cents. CLAS stapled securities closed flat at 90 cents on May 29 following the announcement, but are down some 6.8% year to date. |
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hokpin
Supreme |
25-May-2026 10:47
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All, OCBC keeps breaking all time high. No idea when to upsize my holding. Having happy problem now...
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Checkerman
Master |
22-May-2026 12:46
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$28-30 potential
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hokpin
Supreme |
22-May-2026 11:47
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只 有 更 高 ， 没 有 最 高 ！ | ||||||||||
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Joelton
Supreme |
21-May-2026 10:10
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OCBC outbids banks on HSBC Indonesia deal by wide margin: sources The higher offer allows OCBC to enter bilateral negotiations to finalise the deal [SINGAPORE] OCBC substantially outbid rivals in a recent deal to buy HSBC Holdings&rsquo s retail and wealth assets in Indonesia, by more than US$100 million in most cases, according to people familiar with the matter. Only the second-highest bid was within US$100 million of OCBC&rsquo s, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The higher offer allowed OCBC to enter bilateral negotiations to finalise the deal, the people said. Representatives for OCBC and HSBC declined to comment. OCBC agreed to acquire the HSBC assets earlier this month to deepen its presence in South-east Asia&rsquo s largest economy. The price of the transaction was calculated based on the net asset value of HSBC Indonesia&rsquo s International Wealth and Premier Banking operations and a premium of up to about S$480 million, OCBC said. The difference between OCBC&rsquo s offer and others hasn&rsquo t previously been reported. The value is subject to adjustments and will be finalised after the deal is completed, potentially in the first half of next year, pending regulatory approvals, OCBC said. The amount was decided on a &ldquo willing-buyer, willing-seller basis,&rdquo taking into account business prospects and potential synergies, according to the bank. Other shortlisted bidders included Singaporean lenders DBS and UOB, Malaysia&rsquo s CIMB Group Holdings and Japan&rsquo s Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, people familiar with the matter have said Fast-growing markets such as Indonesia have attracted banks looking to expand. OCBC has a presence in Indonesia with its Jakarta-listed subsidiary Bank OCBC NISP Tbk, and it has grown in the country both organically and via acquisitions, including buying Commonwealth Bank of Australia&rsquo s local unit in 2024. The HSBC purchase will be the first by new OCBC chief executive officer Tan Teck Long, who is planning a deeper push into Asia, including in the affluent segment in Hong Kong and expanding private banking in Indonesia. As part of the deal, OCBC will offer to employ all 1,300 staff working in HSBC Indonesia&rsquo s retail banking operations, the bank said. Analysts have so far reacted positively to the rationale of the deal. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Sarah Jane Mahmud and Alison Hor said it will boost OCBC&rsquo s South-east Asian franchise and strengthen profit margins and fees. It &ldquo should be modestly earnings accretive, excluding one-time integration costs,&rdquo they wrote. Tan has said the HSBC Indonesia assets are &ldquo a perfect fit&rdquo for OCBC&rsquo s Indonesia strategy, and the total portfolio of S$6.6 billion will also accelerate the bank&rsquo s growing wealth business. The HSBC portfolio had deposits of S$2.3 billion and a much smaller S$300 million customer retail loan book. BLOOMBERG |
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hokpin
Supreme |
19-May-2026 15:28
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ATH SGD 23.3+ today together with Big Bro DBS! | ||||||||||
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chartiskao
Supreme |
14-May-2026 14:13
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The current meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping (May 14&ndash 15, 2026) is acting as a major catalyst for Singapore&rsquo s financial sector, specifically OCBC (Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation). As capital flees the Middle East due to the ongoing Iran conflict, OCBC is positioned to benefit from its dual role as a " Safe Haven" and a " Wealth Management Powerhouse."
The following report analyzes why these factors are pushing OCBC shares toward and potentially beyond the SGD 22.90 mark. Report: Geopolitical Convergence and OCBC Share Catalysts1. Features (The " What" )
2. Touchpoints (Interaction Channels)
3. Gainpoints (Drivers for Share Price Appreciation)
4. Painpoints (Investor Concerns)
5. Challenges & Solutions
Export to Sheets
Executive Summary for InvestorsThe convergence of the Trump-Xi summit (which lowers the regional risk floor) and the Iran conflict (which drives capital into Singapore) creates a " perfect storm" for OCBC. As Middle Eastern investors seek a neutral, sophisticated, and stable financial harbor, OCBC' s wealth management and corporate banking divisions are seeing unprecedented demand. This influx of liquidity is the primary engine fueling the rise toward the SGD 22.9 price target.
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Joelton
Supreme |
12-May-2026 09:52
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OCBC, UOB, DBS lead Singapore stocks higher on Monday STI up 0.4% Across the broader market, losers outpace gainers 340 to 279, as 2.1 billion securities worth S$2.6 billion change hands [SINGAPORE] Singapore stocks ended higher on Monday (May 11), with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) rising 0.4 per cent or 20.87 points to 4,942.77. OCBC : O39 +2.65% led the gainers on the blue-chip index, advancing 2.6 per cent or S$0.58 to S$22.50. The other two local banks also closed higher. DBS : D05 +0.15% gained 0.2 per cent or S$0.09 to finish at S$58.77, and UOB : U11 +1.18% was up 1.2 per cent or S$0.43 at S$36.99. The worst performer among the STI constituents was Seatrium : 5E2 -3.04%, which fell 3 per cent or S$0.07 to S$2.23. Within the iEdge Singapore Next 50 Index, Riverstone : AP4 +7.19% was the top gainer with a 7.2 per cent or S$0.055 rise to S$0.82. Meanwhile, China Aviation Oil : G92 -5.71% was the biggest loser, declining 5.7 per cent or S$0.12 to end the session at S$1.98. Across the broader market, losers outpaced gainers 340 to 279, after 2.1 billion securities worth S$2.6 billion changed hands. Key regional indices were mixed. Hong Kong&rsquo s Hang Seng Index gained 0.1 per cent, Japan&rsquo s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5 per cent, South Korea&rsquo s Kospi was up 4.3 per cent, and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.2 per cent. &ldquo Markets continue to prioritise AI-driven earnings optimism over escalating geopolitical risks, reinforcing the strength of the current momentum trade,&rdquo said Stephen Innes, SPI Asset Management managing partner. He added: &ldquo The longer the Strait of Hormuz remains unstable, the greater the risk that energy markets eventually force a repricing across equities, bonds and currencies simultaneously.&rdquo |
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Joelton
Supreme |
12-May-2026 09:49
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OCBC consumer banking chief Sunny Quek aims to double wealth business by 2029 The lender&rsquo s new wealth management committee could hold the key to a successful execution of its &lsquo Next Frontier&rsquo pivot [SINGAPORE] OCBC head of global consumer financial services Sunny Quek has big ambitions. After doubling the lender&rsquo s consumer banking wealth business since he stepped into his current role in 2022, he is ready to do it again &ndash this time from a bigger base. &ldquo I&rsquo m going to double this business again by 2029,&rdquo he said in an exclusive interview with The Business Times. &ldquo My original target was to double our wealth business by 2030. Now, I think we can do it faster.&rdquo It is a bold statement to make, in a market filled with similar promises. But as a 30-year veteran of the banking industry, Quek knows the odds. He has spent 14 years at OCBC, where he has seen three group chief executives come and go. He has lived through the usual cycles of grand banking strategies and corporate reshuffles. Yet, he strongly believes the bank has finally found the right tool to force actual change: its newly minted wealth management committee. &ldquo My confidence comes from the experience I&rsquo ve had in the last four months with the wealth management committee,&rdquo he said. &ldquo I can feel the difference.&rdquo The wealth management committee took shape at the start of 2026. It is the main engine powering new group chief executive Tan Teck Long&rsquo s &ldquo Next Frontier&rdquo strategy, as the bank pivots towards a &ldquo whole-of-wealth&rdquo model. Tan designed the committee to tear down historic walls dividing the consumer bank, private wealth arm, and insurance unit. It compels OCBC&rsquo s consumer banking head to sit at the same table with the CEOs of Bank of Singapore and Great Eastern. The central mandate forces these divisions to operate under shared financial targets. It ensures they stop fighting over the same lucrative clients and start pooling their resources to lock in regional assets. Tan chairs the group, and having the chief executive in the room means everyone faces real consequences if they fail to align. Structural advantage Quek acknowledged, however, that almost every financial institution has drawn up similar playbooks. &ldquo All of us have a wealth strategy. What&rsquo s really going to differentiate one bank from another is the execution,&rdquo he said. And OCBC has a clear structural advantage in Singapore: it owns an insurance company. &ldquo No other Singapore bank has that,&rdquo Quek said. &ldquo An insurer&rsquo s CEO does not sit in a committee with other banking heads they are not part of that value chain. For us, however, whatever is built by any of the three of us is built for the whole group.&rdquo This means the bank pulls all three entities together under unified leadership, unlike its peers, Quek said. If they can get the banking app to talk seamlessly to the insurance database without duplicating costs, they might just have a winning formula. But Quek will have his work cut out for him &ndash the base he intends to double is already massive. The bank&rsquo s full-year performance for 2025 also laid down a formidable bedrock of wealth momentum. Lifted by income growth across the wealth continuum, group wealth management income soared 14 per cent to a record S$5.6 billion in 2025. This lucrative segment now represents 38 per cent of the group&rsquo s entire income, which rose a record S$14.6 billion. A key driver was wealth management fees. These surged 33 per cent to an all-time high, and drove a 22 per cent increase in total net fee income to S$2.4 billion. The bank scooped up more assets, and rode on positive market valuation to push its banking wealth assets under management (AUM) up 15 per cent to S$343 billion. Digital channels saw even sharper spikes during the year. Digital wealth revenue in the city-state surged by over 80 per cent. Even gold and silver are glittering brighter, with precious metals revenue rocketing more than eight times year on year. Regional push The hunger for wealth extends well beyond Singapore&rsquo s borders. The city-state&rsquo s offshore wealth fees grew more than 30 per cent. Hong Kong, the other half of OCBC&rsquo s &ldquo twin hubs&rdquo strategy, grew its Premier Banking customers by more than 30 per cent offshore customers there expanded by over 40 per cent. In Malaysia, wealth fees grew more than 10 per cent, accompanied by a near 15 per cent rise in new affluent customers. To service this regional influx, the bank plans to hire close to 250 relationship managers in Singapore and Hong Kong. Not content with organic growth, the bank is also making a grab for scale in South-east Asia&rsquo s largest economy. On May 4, it announced that its Indonesian subsidiary had agreed to acquire the retail banking and wealth management operations of Bank HSBC Indonesia, in a deal which instantly injected 336,000 customers into the OCBC Indonesia franchise. It brings across S$6.6 billion in AUM. This sizeable chunk of wealth includes S$4.3 billion in customer investments in mutual funds, bonds and insurance, along with S$2.3 billion in deposits. When completed in the second quarter of 2027, the move will boost OCBC Indonesia&rsquo s AUM by 25 per cent and add about 1,300 staff to its talent pool. It firmly anchors the bank&rsquo s ambitions in a critical regional market. Momentum is certainly building for this overarching strategy. The traction was clearly visible in OCBC&rsquo s Q1 financial results released on May 8. This was the first quarter since the wealth management committee convened and Tan&rsquo s Next Frontier strategy was put in place. The lender posted a 5 per cent rise in net profit to S$2 billion for the three months ended Mar 31, neatly beating market estimates. While a lower interest rate environment dragged net interest income down by 5 per cent to S$2.2 billion, wealth management was the undeniable hero of the quarter as record-high non-interest income plugged the gap. Wealth fees in Q1 surged 34 per cent to S$422 million, driven by robust customer activity across all channels. Overall wealth management income climbed 11 per cent to S$1.5 billion, representing 39 per cent of the group&rsquo s total income. The chief executive explicitly called out this wealth-led performance as crucial support against geopolitical tensions and inflation risks. Shifting attitudes OCBC&rsquo s pivot comes amid shifting consumer attitudes towards wealth. As digital platforms democratise market access, younger consumers expect to start their investment journeys earlier, with far less capital. &ldquo Consumers don&rsquo t think about their life goals holistically,&rdquo Quek said. &ldquo You often hear: &lsquo I&rsquo m too poor to think about retirement&rsquo ... &ldquo What we are seeing globally, not just in Singapore, is the growing need for better financial literacy, earlier retirement planning, and much more structured wealth advice across different life stages,&rdquo he added. &ldquo These trends are reshaping how we think about wealth management.&rdquo The bank is adapting its tools to capture this new generation. Its mobile app now offers fractional investment solutions to sharply lower the barrier to entry. Customers can start small with products such as the Blue Chip Investment Plan, RoboInvest, unit trusts and even fractions of precious metals down to 0.1 grams of gold. The goal is to hook customers early and use the new committee structure to seamlessly pass them up the wealth chain as their assets grow. While digital channels provide the volume, Quek stresses that managing significant wealth remains deeply rooted in trust and human advice. To execute its ambitious plans on the ground, OCBC is heavily equipping its relationship managers with advanced tools. The bank recently rolled out an artificial intelligence training programme for its wealth advisors, and the early results underscore Quek&rsquo s confidence about execution. Advisers who completed the programme booked twice as many client appointments as their peers. Their monthly revenues jumped 50 per cent from that in the three months prior to the training. Indeed, changing entrenched corporate culture and erasing silo mentalities take significant time and are a massive undertaking. With a firm hand from the top, a clear road map for South-east Asia, and a fresh war chest of Indonesian assets, OCBC is laying the groundwork. But while the mandate to double the consumer wealth business by 2029 sets a high bar, Quek sees a clear path forward. And if his infectious confidence spreads, that ambitious target could be well within reach. |
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Echoes
Senior |
12-May-2026 09:35
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Whether to sell or hold is purely up to the individual - to each his own . I started buying in 2011 at $7+ all the way to $17+ last year , and have not sold a single share . My average is around $10.40 . During the AGM , the Chairman mentioned that there were 4th generation shareholers who inherited the shares and were present for the meeting . Yes , the shares has been passed down for 4 generations . I intend to pass mine to my children . As for total shareholder returns , I did a rough calculation , it takes around 13 years for the dividens to fully pay up for your share . And during the same period , the share price would have doubled . In other words , if you sink in $1 , you take back $3 after 13 years . The returns may seem to be peanuts if you were to compare to many other growth stocks , but if you were to consider the fact that its a mature and safe business , plus it rewards you with good dividens regularly , its still a pretty good investment . This is the first time that I have not added any since the massive runup over the past 6 months . Until I can see that the profits and dividens can justify its current lofty price , only then I will add more . Meanwhile , I will just sit back and enjoy my coffee . |
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