DBS targets Indonesia private banking clients

Chia Su Ching is set to join DBS’s private banking arm, covering Indonesia, after more than 11 years as an investment banker with the Singapore bank.

Chia joins as a senior vice-president, starting on September 1, and will replace Terence Seow, who left to join rival Bank of Singapore as a managing director earlier this month. Seow will focus on Indonesia but also has a wider regional mandate. He left DBS with two relationship managers — Wilyono Martin and Fang Shiuh Rou — who are now both working with him at Bank of Singapore. Martin and Fang have not been replaced, but their portfolios have been taken up by other members of the team.

Chia will report to Chan Kwee Him, head of private banking for Indonesia at DBS. She will lead a team of eight staff to help accelerate the growth of DBS’s private banking business in the Indonesian market.

In her new role, Chia will focus on providing customised solutions to ultra-rich clients. “With her in-depth knowledge of the Indonesian market and wealth of investment banking experience, Chia is expected to drive greater cross selling of DBS’ institutional banking, investment banking and capital market capabilities to clients in Indonesia,” according to a press release from DBS.

At the capital markets division, Chia has been actively covering the Indonesian market, leveraging DBS’s network to connect clients with strategic business partners in Asia, and helping clients to identify funding and investment opportunities.

The latest appointment brings the total staff strength of the Indonesia team to about 40. As at end July 2011, DBS had a total of almost 350 staff working in its private bank across the region. Indonesia is one of its primary growth markets, together with China and India.

Asia’s rapid wealth creation is intensifying the competition among private banks in the region. According to the Capgemini and Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report 2011, the number of millionaires in Asia-Pacific rose 9.7% to 3.3 million in 2010, surpassing the number of high-net-worth individuals in Europe for the first time.