(6 March 2025 – Singapore) DBS is ramping up its wealth management business, hiring aggressively to attract affluent Chinese clients moving assets offshore.
As reported in the Financial Times, the bank recruited 80 relationship managers (RMs) focused on North Asia in 2024, nearly half based in Singapore, and plans to add at least 30 more this year.
Singapore’s status as a global wealth hub has grown, but banks have tightened anti-money laundering measures following a S$3bn scandal linked to Chinese nationals. While some institutions are pulling back, DBS is expanding, increasing its RM headcount by 8 percent annually since 2020. Last year’s hires brought the total to 850, with 130 more planned in 2025.
“On the back of robust growth in wealth inflows into this region, we hired some 80 bankers last year to serve the needs of our clients in north Asia,” said Joseph Poon, Head of DBS Private Bank. “The competition for talent has definitely intensified over the years.”
DBS has also been hiring in niche markets, increasing Russian-speaking RMs in Singapore to nine and aiming to double its Thailand-focused team by next year. The private bank played a key role in DBS’s record profits last year, with wealth management fees surging 45%percent to S$2.2bn.
This expansion comes as Tan Su Shan, who led DBS’s wealth business for a decade, prepares to step in as Group CEO.