Bank of Singapore exploring new frontiers in ME

Bank of singapore is keen to expand its presence in the Middle East to serve high-net-worth individuals, or HNWIs, in the region through its offerings, which cover a wide range of commercial and business banking solutions and services, according to its top official.
Bahren Shaari, chief executive officer of Bank of Singapore, said the region is expected to post three per cent to four per cent GDP growth next year despite low oil prices in the international market.
"The UAE is our core market at the moment, but we are also looking at Saudi Arabia as a growth market, not only within the non-resident Indian [NRI] segment. We are one of the few truly global Asian private banks - this offers our clients a unique insight into the large and dynamic region," Shaari told Khaleej Times during his recent visit to Dubai.
Bank of Singapore, formerly known as ING Asia Private Bank, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of OCBC Bank, which is one of Asia's leading financial services groups and the second-largest by assets in South-east Asia. It was launched in January 2010 following OCBC Bank's purchase of ING Asia Private Bank. 
"Bank of Singapore has been in Dubai since 1996 and we are committed to serving HNWIs in this region. Since 2010, the assets under management of our Dubai office have doubled. Specifically in Dubai, we have a large presence of 55 staff serving clients in this region," he said.
Middle East an attractive market
Shaari, an industry veteran with more than 25 years of private banking experience, said the bank has a unique open-architecture product platform to provide truly independent advice to its clients. The Middle East is an attractive market for private banking as the region hosts a growing list of millionaires.
"The bank is designed to look for the best price for its clients," he said.
Besides a wide range of private banking services for discretionary, advisory and trading-oriented investors, he said Bank of Singapore offers proprietary research in various key areas that include economics, global fixed income, global equities and foreign exchange, estate planning services as well as insurance solutions. 
"Our treasury is not a profit centre. We do not take proprietary positions. At the same time, Bank of Singapore offers a wide range of commercial and business banking solutions and services such as mortgage financing and corporate finance, through OCBC Bank," he said.
"We are confident in our strategy to expand our offering to GCC nationals. We will continue to build on our position as Asia's global private bank to overcome the headwinds ahead, by ensuring we are a trusted advisor who meets the business and financial needs of HNWIs," he added.
NRIs are key target
Shaari, who holds an accountancy degree from the National University of Singapore, said NRIs in the UAE represent some of the bank's key target clients in this region.
"Many of them are entrepreneurs with keen interest and strong links in other Asian markets. Given our heritage and history, we believe that Bank of Singapore is uniquely positioned to offer them the right opportunities in the Asian markets, given our heritage and strong links with our parent, OCBC Bank."
About sustaining a strong Aa1 rating with a stable outlook, he said the strength of its parent company will help the bank to achieve a sustainable path to growth.
"Our parent company, OCBC Bank, is consistently ranked among the world's strongest and safest banks by leading market research firms and publications. Rated Aa1 with a stable outlook by Moody's, Bank of Singapore's assets under management have more than doubled since its inception in 2010 - from $23 billion in January 2010 to $52 billion as at September 30, 2015," he said. 
Sharing the bank's success formula, Shaari said the key to Bank of Singapore's success has been a combination of its advisory and product offerings, delivered by a team of professionals with a strong culture of performance.
"As a growing institution, we must ensure that we hire and retain the best private bankers as they will ultimately be the day-to-day point of contact and trust for our clients. Individuals looking for the right investment advice and solutions will rely on their bankers to guide them," he said.
"We adopt a global private banking approach with an open-architecture product platform to provide independent advice to our clients," he added.
Before assuming charge of chief executive, Shaari was global head of the South-east Asia business from 2010 to 2015 and was instrumental in establishing Bank of Singapore's market-leading position in the Indonesian and Malaysian markets, tripling combined assets under management.
"We serve HNWIs and wealthy families in our key markets of South-east Asia, Greater China, Singapore, the Philippines, the Indian Sub-continent and other international markets via our main headquarters in Singapore, our branch in Hong Kong as well as our representative offices in Manila and Dubai."
"We currently have a total staff strength of more than 1,000 staff worldwide that includes more than 300 private bankers of various nationalities, serving global clients," he added.
2016 outlook for economy
To a question about the challenges for private banking amid growing competition and volatile commodity and global economy, he said private banking is obviously a very competitive segment, with key European and home-grown Middle Eastern players leading the fore in the region. The successful firms will be the ones that offer a broad range of services and provide independent and differentiated advice that best serves their clients' interests.
"We firmly believe that Bank of Singapore is in such a category," he said, adding that maintaining a strong culture of leadership and performance, supported by a pool of well-informed, professional and trusted advisors will also be important.
Shaari, who was conferred the Public Service Medal in 2008 by the president of Singapore, said the global economy is expected to grow in the three-3.5 per cent range in 2016, with the recovery in developed economies looking increasingly sound and able to withstand the difficulties in some emerging markets.
"It is not just the US that is doing well - recovery in Europe has become increasingly solid over the past year, as the drag from austerity fades. Of course, growth in the Middle East will be held back by low oil prices, but should still be able to reach three per cent to four per cent," he said.
About the possible interest rate hike by US Federal Reserve in December, he said it is unlikely to destabilise the global economy and derail the recovery process. "We are relatively relaxed about US interest rate hikes. The Fed has already waited for longer than we should reasonably expect, with the economy already at full employment."
"Moreover, the change has been so well-signalled that it should come as no surprise to financial markets; note that the exchange rates of some vulnerable emerging markets have already corrected a long way since the 'taper tantrum' in mid-2013," Shaari concluded.
- muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com