Added 16th September 2015 Malaysia's Maybank is aiming for a soft launch of its discretionary portfolio management service in Singapore by the end of this year, Ang Mui Koon, senior director of discretionary services, confirmed in an interview with sister website Fund Selector Asia. Ang's confirmation is in line with Maybank's strategy to establish its presence in Asia's high net worth market. Earlier in November last year, Maybank launched its private banking unit with 35 relationship managers, several of whom were upskilled from affluent banking. Ang's expertise comes at a critical time. While the lender already has the infrastructure and capability to serve their high net worth clients, it needs to strengthen its position through a more dedicated offering. Ang has been working to build Maybank's discretionary portfolio management service since last year. “We will start first with standard mandates,” she said. Ang added that the lender would consider diversifying its offerings after receiving feedback from their clients. From a structural perspective, Maybank has chosen to position its private wealth arm within the consumer bank, with close links to the corporate and investment divisions. Such a strategy will enable the lender to tap into some 10,000 to 20,000 clients from the corporate banking division. Maybank revealed in June that it would grow its relationship manager pool across Asia as part of its strategy to enter the high net worth market. At the same time, the bank is also seeking to diversify from its core markets of Malaysia and Singapore. Manybank is likely to face stiff competition from rival Malaysian bank, RHB. The latter announced last year its intent to set up a wealth management unit in Singapore – a region it views as the main hub for private banking in Southeast Asia. Ang has experience in running both consumer and private platforms. She was recruited from Standard Chartered last year where she was head of platform services. Prior to Standard Chartered, she was with Fortis Bank as head of investment support.
Maybank launched its private banking unit last November, and is now hoping to have its discretionary portfolio management service fully functioning by the end of this year. The company has also been working with a number of banks on blockchain technology projects, including one that will allow it to issue digital tokens for use in peer-to-peer lending or other financial services.