Bank of Singapore to Increase Staff to Manage Wealth of Overseas Indians

Bank of Singapore, a private banking arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC Bank), is hiring more staff for its Dubai branch as the lender seeks to cater to Indians and the other affluent clients in the region.

Recruitment of about 20 relationship managers is on the cards, according to Vikram Malhotra, the bank’s global market head for South Asia and the Middle East, Bloomberg reported. Most of the additions will be based in Dubai while some additions will be made in Singapore and Hong Kong too.

As an offshore destination for Indian wealth, Dubai is second only to Singapore, according to a Capgemini report that was released in November. About 22 per cent of their overseas assets went to the Southeast Asian country in the second quarter, while Dubai and London got 14 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively.

The Dubai branch of the Bank of Singapore, which serves as the regional financial hub, opened in February and has about 45 wealth managers. “Dubai will be the hub, where we will cover the MENA region and Western side,” Bahren Shaari, the chief executive told Reuters in an earlier interview. At its opening, the bank was targeting an annual growth of assets of more than 20 per cent.

The total wealth in the Middle East grew 5 per cent last year to $2.4 trillion, as per estimates from the consultancy Capgemini SA. Bank of Singapore has seen a “phenomenal growth in the assets under management” in the Middle East and from wealthy overseas Indians this year, Malhotra added.

Indian expatriates sent the maximum amount of remittances – totaling to Dh15.46 billion — back home from the United Arab Emirates from January to September 2017, according to UAE Central Bank figures released earlier this month.

The UAE also emerged as the most sought-after destination for 14 out of 40 wealthiest Non-Resident Indians, according to this year’s Hurun Report. Micky Jagtiani of the Landmark Group and MA Yusuf Ali of the Emke Group, who were ranked the second and third wealthiest Indian immigrants on the list, are residents of the UAE, with fortunes worth Rs 347 billion and Rs 319 billion, respectively.