We are delighted to host our 8th annual event for the private wealth management community in Thailand.
We have refreshed the format for the event – and we think it’s particularly relevant at a time of so much change and opportunity for the industry.
We have designed the forum – along with the presentations, workshops, case studies and panel discussions – to bring together key market participants to discuss and debate the current positioning, role, opportunities, challenges and outlook for wealth management in Asia.
Specific topics we will cover include;
- The Increasing awareness from HNW clients about what they need. Growing digital capabilities.
- Wealth managers thinking about how they can add more value and differentiate their offering.
- More firms setting up a private wealth offering - both local and international. More competition driving an intense grab for talent.
- Increased product diversification. Insurance companies expanding the range of solutions for clients.
- Increased demand for private equity and alternative products Where are the untapped opportunities for Banks?
- How can banks accelerate growth and penetrate into the market?
- What are the key success factors in providing an exceptional client experience?
- What are the best practices from international Banks and can they be integrated locally?
With a growing number of local and overseas participants in what is a rapidly-shifting wealth management space, differentiation in strategies and value propositions is key to deliver what clients want.
The concept of needs-based conversations with the right clients, backed up by real advice and relevant, contextual information delivered in a blended way between digital and human touch-points, is critical. Yet with the next generation increasingly important – both in size and influence – there is a pressing need to find the right solutions.
The event is attended by CEOs, senior management, product gatekeepers and business unit heads across technology, compliance, operations, risk and advisory – from the leading international and local Private Banks, Retail Banks, Securities Firms, IFAs, Family Offices, Insurance Companies, and other Independent Wealth Management Firms.
The value of a differentiated approach in the form of genuinely independent advice is certainly becoming clearer – both to clients as well as private bankers.
Can wealth mangers raise their game and address the ongoing challenges they face in scaling their businesses? These include more clearly defining business models; finding more clients; creating more clarity over fee models; attracting more competent and experienced private bankers; driving revenue in challenging and choppy markets; and keeping costs under control
Key Topics we will explore in Bangkok
Regulators have been forward-thinking
The regulators have been prescient and accommodating in helping the industry liberalise, and despite the prevailing foreign exchange controls, have done their best to encourage the diversification of investment opportunities, especially for the wealthier categories of HNWIs. The industry now hopes that they continue this process and also allow more of the mass affluent to invest with greater choice.
Don’t forget us – the industry!
Regulators the world over appear obsessed with the end consumer, but the panel of experts also called for an even greater focus from the regulators on the industry providers themselves and their long-term health, not solely on the end consumers. This, in turn, will benefit the end-users.
Demand for diversification expands
There is clearly and evidently growing demand for greater diversification of products, and open architecture empowered with the best platforms will help in that pursuit.
Education still needed
Education of the investor base and the upskilling of the sales teams are also vital elements for the future. This is just as true for the insurance sector as for the private banking and asset management segments.
The longer-term view
Some experts called for their clients to look at investments in the longer-term and from a broader portfolio perspective.
A hybrid approach is optimal
While digitalisation will certainly help revolutionise the financial sector at large, a hybrid approach to combine the human element and the machine protocol is essential, especially in the earlier stages of development and amongst those investors with less financial acumen. And providers must be balanced and fair in what they promote, and how.
Onshore opportunities in offshore assets
Rising demand for internationalisation of portfolios is seen throughout the upper segments of the wealth industry in Thailand. One leading global bank reported that at least 50% of all their customer portfolios are in offshore products today, whereas it was a fairly low percentage in the past. That figure is not replicated throughout the broader universe of mass-affluent and other investors, which are perhaps closer to 10%-15%, but therein lies huge opportunity.
Greater competition
Given the developments past and anticipated, the next evolution is already taking place, as more international private banks compete onshore, each working through different models, some via cooperation with local banks, some with a more substantial onshore presence due to the more relaxed rules, some still flying in to offer the offshore products to customers.
Insurance penetration lags, opportunity beckons
The insurance market enjoys the expanding need for solutions but still suffers relatively low penetration rates. Greater liberalisation of investment outlets for the insurers would help provide them with higher returns and that in turn would permit more solutions and better outcomes for the broader population of end users.
Health and lifestyle
In the insurance sector, health and well-being/lifestyle are high priorities for many in Thailand, especially as the population ages fast and sophistication and awareness rise. This will bring plentiful health insurance opportunities, potentially with associated bells & whistles to entice customers. Links to life insurance solutions are obvious.
Insurance providers rise to the challenge
An insurance expert focused the discussion on growing revenues and improving market penetration. As a leading insurance company, he said that to grow revenue and the profits the firm does not need to offer more expensive products, but must offer a more holistic suite of products, a wider range of solutions to the customer.
Delivering efficiently
Optimising the delivery of insurance solutions is also vital. Selecting the right solutions for the right distribution channels for customers to access those products is a key component of success. Balancing the digital and human elements will be very important for such products.
Wish-lists
Guests offered their wish-list of changes to take place in the years ahead, including the need for greater education, more liberalisation, better disclosure and transparency, a more holistic approach to portfolios and advice, longer-term perspectives, as well as an even greater focus from the regulators on the industry providers themselves and their long-term health, not solely on the end consumers.