ICFS/Notz Stucki/MBA Private Wealth Panel 27 February 2014 – M Hotel Singapore

On behalf of the University of Adelaide’s International Centre for Financial Services (ICFS) and MBA Program and Notz Stocki, I welcome you all to what promises to be an interesting and insightful discussion about private wealth management.

My

name is Damian Scanlon and I am the Director of the Adelaide MBA. While our first class, highly ranked and accredited MBA doesn’t need much elaboration, by way of background, the University of Adelaide established the ICFS to foster excellence and thought leadership for the Financial Services Industry by providing research, education and industry engagement. The ICFS draws on staff expertise across schools within the University of Adelaide as well as its business partners, for example Notz Stocki. So what is the context of this evening’s discussion? Well…Singapore is often described as “the Switzerland of Asia”– thanks to its rise as one of Asia’s biggest asset management centres. Last year, the Swiss National Bank opened its first overseas branch because, the central bank needed to better manage its ($53bn) in foreign exchange holdings in Asian currencies, and picked Singapore over other financial centres in the region. For some years, and especially since the 2008 crisis, more wealth has been created in Asia, and faster, than in

any

other

region at any other

time.

While North America and Japan continue to be home to huge amounts of private wealth, Asia is accumulating wealth faster, because it is being created by a new generation of entrepreneurs in the rapidly growing economies of south east Asia. PwC has predicted that Singapore could dislodge Switzerland as the world’s biggest wealth management centre as early as 2015. The Monetary Authority of Singapore revealed that the value of assets under management in the city-state had jumped by 22 per cent in 2012 to a record S$1.63tn up from S$1.34tn a year previously.

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ICFS/Notz Stucki/MBA Private Wealth Panel 27 February 2014 – M Hotel Singapore

In Singapore alone, the accumulation of wealth – and the speed with which it has happened – has been staggering. According to Royal Bank of Canada, there were roughly 100,000 people with investable assets of more than $1m in 2012 and their aggregate wealth was a staggering $489bn. To add to this, Singapore has also made a virtue of its position in the centre of south east Asia to attract wealth from families in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. As a result, the city-state has attracted almost every name in wealth management. The Monetary Authority of Singapore says there are more than 500 players in asset management operating in Singapore, including Swiss-based banks such as Credit Suisse and UBS, for which Singapore is the largest centre outside their home market. BUT, and this is the challenge, this makes Singapore a crowded market, with banks chasing a community of largely Asian clients who are less interested in wealth preservation – as is the case in Europe – THAN in achieving yield. That puts bankers under constant pressure to come up with capital market transactions that can appeal to such clientele, such as structured products, participation in IPOs and secondary market issues, as well as complex derivative deals. Significantly, according to the Financial Times, banks say that they struggle with a shortage of qualified “relationship managers” to attract and keep clients. That job is made harder by the fact that wealthy entrepreneurs in south east Asia typically like to hand their business to more than one bank at a time. Unlike in Europe, loyalty is low. So, what we can we conclude from this? Well,

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ICFS/Notz Stucki/MBA Private Wealth Panel 27 February 2014 – M Hotel Singapore

Firstly:

The growth in the size and importance of Singapore as a financial centre, places increasing emphasis on individual expertise in managing banking-client relationships; relying ever more on complex financial products for revenue growth and profits is not enough

Secondly:

The supply and demand dynamic dictates an imperative for aspiring professionals working in client services to develop superior skills in acquiring, maintaining, and sustaining relationships

Thirdly:

The growing and ever more pervasive impact of technology in every aspect of our lives, serves to distract us from the importance of face to face interactions; and this can erode our human skills to relate with each other effectively

And finally:

Singapore has a broad representation of cultures and backgrounds in its business demographic, therefore professionals working in the sector need to be sensitive and competent in their communications

So, here is the opportunity. The market is big, and growing, and a competitive edge is needed. The University of Adelaide has some very tangible capabilities to build that competitive edge and that is why we are here today. Our ICFS is recognised worldwide for its work in this sector and our MBA and Masters of Applied Finance programs are highly sought after business qualifications for those wanting to enter the financial services sector.

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ICFS/Notz Stucki/MBA Private Wealth Panel 27 February 2014 – M Hotel Singapore

And of course, we are well connected with the business community and maintain strong relationships with many organisations, and in this instance we are partnering with Notz Stucki for today’s discussion. Today, we will hear from Alan Hudson who will cover the importance of building our Emotional Intelligence and developing new behavioural strategies that will be integral to rising and thriving in the challenges facing those in the private investment banking sector. This will give you some insights into what Alan and the ICFS will be covering in the two day workshop next month that Mei mentioned. After Alan’s talk there will be a Q&A session with our panel members, who I shall introduce now. Alan is Managing Director of EI Asia Pacific, a behavioural science based consultancy specialising in People Behaviour, Strategy and Performance, and Paul Ekman Training in Emotional Skills and Deception Detection. Alan trained as an organisational psychologist holding undergraduate and Master’s degrees from Oxford University, and has practised as a management consultant, business psychologist and management facilitator for over twenty-five years. He is a registered psychologist and is on the Adjunct Faculty at the School of Psychology, University of NSW in Sydney. For those familiar with the British comedy Mr Bean, Alan has been a script writer for this very painfully funny show, so we must conclude he has a dark sense of humour! Andrew McLachlan: Andrew is the Director of the ICFS and has over 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry.

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ICFS/Notz Stucki/MBA Private Wealth Panel 27 February 2014 – M Hotel Singapore

He has held senior leadership and executive positions in national financial service groups that operate in the Asia Pacific Region. His responsibilities have included being the Chief Executive of a trust business that specialised in the provision of private client services. He is a Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. Prior to taking up executive appointments, Andrew worked as a lawyer specialising in superannuation, banking and finance law. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide, a Master of Laws from the University of Edinburgh and a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management from the Universities of Sydney and NSW. Finally, we were intending to have Cedric Stadellman on the panel, but unfortunately he is a late apology. However we are very fortunate to have his Managing Director as his replacement, Herwig Hove.

Herwig holds a degree in Applied Economics from the UFSIA University in Antwerp and an MBA from INSEAD. He has been active in wealth management for over 15 years working for Morgan Stanley from 1999 til 2009, where he was an Executive Director in the private wealth management department. Previously, he worked as a Branch Manager for Citibank, focusing on wealth management.

Welcome to you all.

I now invite Alan to speak…

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