Credit Suisse has marked the first anniversary of its wealth management operations in Thailand by rolling out a new digital wealth management tool. Thailand becomes the third market where the Swiss Bank is offering this service, following launches in Singapore in 2015 and in Hong Kong last year.
The platform which is accessible via the Credit Suisse Private Banking Asia Pacific app provides clients with comprehensive information about their accounts, market insights and intelligence as well as trading capabilities that cover equities, ETFs, REITs and FX. The app is accessible on mobile devices as well as web browsers.
'Digital technology is rapidly changing the way people use financial services. They are increasingly using digital channels to contact their banks, execute trades and purchase financial products,' said Benjamin Cavalli, Credit Suisse's head of Private Banking Southeast Asia. 'Credit Suisse is making significant investments in digital technology to capture this opportunity and deepen the relationship with our current and next generation of clients.'
The number of clients using the app increased six times during 2016, while the volume of equity transactions placed via the digital platform increased eight times, according to Credit Suisse. In some instances more than half of the total equity trades were placed via the app.
According to Cavalli, besides being one of the fastest growing markets in terms of consumer adoption of digital financial services solutions, Thailand is also 'one of the fastest growing markets for our regional wealth management'.
Thai clients can access the full range of Credit Suisse's investment solutions, including equities, funds and alternative investments such as hedge funds and structured products. The bank's wealth management serves primarily two segments -high-net-worth individuals, with more than US$2m of investible assets, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals with over $50m in assets, or $250m in net wealth.
Notably, Credit Suisse had recorded strong growth in Thai wealth management in the past year, with the number of client accounts climbing five times, and the assets under management increasing ten-fold.
'[Wealthy individuals and families in Thailand] are increasingly demanding a more sophisticated and structured asset allocation and access to a comprehensive range of financial and investment solutions across geographies and asset classes,' according to Urs Grueter, Credit Suisse's market group head for Thailand and Vietnam for Private Banking.
Thippa Praneeprachachon, head of wealth management Thailand, added that 'clients who previously had no investments beyond the domestic market are now making international investments mainly due to the strong Thai Baht ... beyond the limited investment options locally'.
'In addition, following the regulatory developments earlier this year that allow "ultra-accredited investors" to invest in private equity and hedge funds, there has been much interest and investments by our Thai ultra-high-net-worth clients in these new alternative asset classes, particularly in global real estate investment opportunities,' Praneeprachachon said.
According to a 2016 Asia Pacific Wealth Report by Capgemini, there are around 96,000 high-net-worth individuals in Thailand with more than US$1m in investible assets, owning a total of US$484bn of investible wealth, Credit Suisse adds. According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute Global Wealth Report 2016, there are also more than 400 ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
The Swiss bank launched in Q2 2016 a client relationship coverage team in Thailand through its securities entity Credit Suisse Securities (Thailand) Limited operating out of Bangkok. The new team will offer access to the bank's international investment and wealth management platform via its regional private banking hub in Singapore.
Credit Suisse's app launch in Thailand comes amid a flurry of similar moves by regional rivals in recent weeks. Last month, Standard Chartered launched a digital tool for its relationship managers that integrates the private bank's entire suite of house views and investment recommendations with Thomson Reuters' real-time market information, in what the bank called an industry first. In March, OCBC Bank launched a pilot robo-advisory service within its wealth management operations and DBS' upgrade of its digital wealth platform 'DBS iWealth'.
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