SC Cheil assigned tax, investment, and insurance experts to the new PB Cluster Centers to provide a more diverse and professional consulting service. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, July 11 (Korea Bizwire) – Foreign banks in Korea are going all out to target high-net-worth individuals.
With the prolonged decline in net interest margins and the prevalence of mobile banking, banks in Korea have seen former revenue streams dry up. Foreign banks are seeking a breakthrough by diversifying their services in asset management.
According to industry watchers, SC Cheil Bank (Standard Chartered) expanded the number of private banking (PB) branches it operates from two PB Centers to eight ‘PB Cluster Centers’, which opened Monday, to offer its high net-worth customers more efficient asset management services.
SC Cheil assigned tax, investment, and insurance experts to the new PB Cluster Centers to provide a more diverse and professional consulting service. The centers will also function as the main headquarters for customer services by launching new financial products that better-suit consumer demand, and coming up with new customer service strategies.
“The PB Cluster Center is a new PB business model that will remove the gap between former PB Centers and regular business branches,” said a SC Cheil Bank official. “We expect the new centers to provide more specific and practical consulting services to our customers as well as increase our overall profitability.”
SC Cheil also revealed plans to invest 10 billion won to establish its asset investment infrastructure, including a system that allows for the trade of foreign bonds and exchange-traded funds.
Also launched Monday was Citibank Korea’s ‘Total Wealth Advisor’ (TWA), a new asset management platform. The TWA is a system that designs a customer’s financial targets at a systematic level, and recommends a portfolio based on its analysis. The system monitors in real-time the customer’s financial targets to make sure it is on the right track, and frequently manages the portfolio to help customers achieve their financial objectives.
Bankers will also be able to use the system on PC and mobile platforms to analyze various markets across the globe, and establish the most suitable asset distribution and investment strategy for their customers.
Over 400 experts in a wide variety of fields currently serve on Citibank’s Global Investment Committee, analyzing international financial market trends and devising optimal investment strategies for investors.
“The TWA is a more systematic and standardized consulting system,” said Park Jin-heo, CEO of Citibank Korea. “With its introduction, we’ll be able to provide our customers with an enhanced asset management experience.”
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
