A five-year survey between 2015-2020 by Bloomberg Finance L.P., MSCI, and Julius Baer found that assets of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) in Thailand grew at an annual rate of 9.9 per cent, equivalent to US$401,200 million, whereas the country’s GDP grew annually only 3.3 per cent on average. This reflects many business opportunities for the HNWIs.
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), the first Thai bank, and Julius Baer, the world’s leading Swiss wealth management company and one of the top-four private banking service providers in Asia, established a joint-venture company “SCB-Julius Baer Securities Co., Ltd.” to exclusively serve HNWI clients. The company offers a specialty in tailor-made and global investment for Thai clients with the same standard as the world’s other millionaires.
Jiralawan Tangitvet, Chief Executive Officer, SCB-Julius Baer Securities Co., Ltd., said, “SCB Julius Baer’s vision is to efficiently manage and grow wealth for Thai HNWIs, including finance strategy, brand-new specific needs, and especially global investment. Nowadays, it is crucial to go beyond the domestic investment market as the world economy is changing fast. Investment in one market thus involves more risks and yields less returns than investment in multiple markets and products.”
Statistics by SCB Julius Baer indicate that an investment in the Thai market alone requires seven years to achieve satisfactory returns while a blend of 50% Thai market and 50% foreign market will only take 4.9 years. As for risk management, an investment in only the Thai market contains 13.5% risk of low returns whereas a blended investment can reduce that risk down to 9.5%.
Jiralawan concluded, “The collaboration between SCB and Julius Baer can narrow the gap for Thai HNWIs that are interested in foreign investment. Siam Commercial Bank has been operating in Thailand for over 100 years. This reflects “Trust” from clients and also a big client base. These strengths are intensified by Julius Baer’s vantage point as an international- level investment and wealth management expert for over a century, equipped with real-time deep analysis from every corner of the world. We also offer an Open Architecture platform that is not tied to the products or services of any particular company, allowing investors to invest freely. This is the first time that a client has had the opportunity to invest in individual securities, allowing maximum returns and truly satisfying their financial needs. It entails not only effective risk management but also opportunities to increase wealth.”
SCB Julius Baer has made the “Wealth Report Thailand 2019” the first of its kind to contain deep analysis on the Thai market, using data from 351 HNWI clients. This is the outcome of integrating both parties’ strengths: SCB’s data access and Julius Baer’s research expertise. One interesting observation is that, despite the huge growth of securities management business in Thailand from increasing accumulative wealth of the HNWIs and investment-facilitated legal conditions and policies, Thai HNWI clients have not yet received the optimal foreign investment service.
Consequently, investment advice by world experts is a solution for HNWIs to create more wealth and achieve investment goals. Moreover, other services are provided: wealth management, taxation management, immigration, retirement planning, wealth inheritance, and charity activities advisory.
With Thai staff who best understand Thai clients, coupled with ready availability of financial experts at offices across the country along with Julius Baer’s world experts, satisfactory tailor-made investment experiences unfold for each individual client.