The proverb "what is fated to be yours will always return to you" holds true in the case of Kattiya Indaravijaya. When she was asked about her desired job on her application form at Kasikornbank (KBank) more than 30 years ago, she filled in "CEO". And now the dream has become real.
Ms Kattiya, 54, took over the reins of the country's biggest lender by assets in April, filling Banthoon Lamsam's shoes and becoming not just the first chief executive outside the Lamsam family since the bank's incorporation 75 years ago, but also the first woman in the top job.
During her time in the US after winning a KBank-sponsored scholarship, Ms Kattiya saw several CEOs of American companies share their vision and leadership tips on TV shows. Their example rekindled her yearning to become the big boss.
After obtaining her MBA, she returned to work at KBank. She was required to fill out the employment application again; and again she stated that CEO was her dream job.
"I didn't think much about it at the time," Ms Kattiya says. "After the 1997 financial crisis, I wished to erase what I filled in the form, as being the head is really a tough task."
Battle-tested
Against the backdrop of the economic meltdown in 1997, everyone at KBank worked relentlessly to support Mr Banthoon, the bank's president at the time, conducting overseas roadshows to approach investors about putting fresh money into the bank to keep it afloat.
As a vice-president, Ms Kattiya recalls sleeping only a few hours a night. But she and the other staff eventually saw their efforts pay off, as KBank was one of two Thai banks that managed to raise funds (the other being Bangkok Bank).
"With all the hard work, difficulty and challenges during the Tom Yum Kung crisis, I was worried at the time that my competence was not enough to manage the bank," Ms Kattiya says.
She says her abilities were not superior to KBank's three other co-presidents, but the board chose her for the top job because she can collaborate well with other staff.
Ms Kattiya has been with KBank since graduating from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy at Chulalongkorn University, where she selected marketing as her subject on the recommendation of her father, Sangvian Indaravijaya, a former dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy at Thammasat University and a founder of Thammasat Business School's Executive MBA programme.
Ms Kattiya was among a minority who picked marketing, as most of her friends went with finance and banking.
After earning her bachelor's degree, she set her sights on becoming a marketer at an international advertising agency. But her father disagreed and suggested she apply for a job at KBank, then known as Thai Farmers Bank.
She did not know why her father wanted her to become a banker.
Ms Kattiya started her career as KBank's relations manager for the manufacturing and agriculture lending department. Her responsibilities included credit analysis of various companies and evaluating the feasibility of many projects. The role required collecting a massive amount of customer data to support senior workers.
With no access to modern technology used in data collection and analysis, she had to do it all manually. The meticulous job reflected her attention to detail.
"My dad always said that he might not be better than others, but he had unbeatable attempts," she says. "He is my coach, and his recommendations have steered me towards the better ways."
Winning instinct
While working as relations manager, Ms Kattiya applied for KBank's scholarship to pursue study overseas.
The competition to win the scholarship was intense, and she received useful advice for the interview from the bank's former executives.
One mentor suggested a real-world example for how to illustrate budget or time constraints, drawing on her university experience. In the case of budget constraints, she should travel to school by public bus, but she should take a taxi if she has adequate money, and in the worst-case scenario of having no money, she must walk to get there.
The mentor also gave her a key takeaway: if she didn't know the answer, she should frankly reply that did not know.
At the scholarship interview, she met Mr Banthoon, who was a panel member. He asked her whether she would leave the bank after completing her scholarship contract. She replied that her father taught her to repay kindnesses, so she would work at the bank until no one appreciated her anymore.
Although men still dominate in the top jobs of the Thai banking sector, Ms Kattiya sees no glass ceiling at KBank. After returning from the US, she was appointed as KBank's assistant vice-president in the investment banking department, which was headed by Boontuck Wungcharoen, a future chief executive of TMB Bank.
In 2000, Ms Kattiya was promoted to head of the corporate strategy department, where she took charge of implementing the balanced-scorecard concept throughout the bank.
She climbed the corporate ladder to first senior vice-president in 2005, executive vice-president and chief financial officer in 2010, senior executive vice-president in 2014 and co-president two years later.
"I feel very grateful that the Lamsam family gave me the responsibility to take care of such a precious thing," Ms Kattiya says. "It seemed to be a challenge, especially amid the coronavirus outbreak."
Tech disruption
Banks have been disrupted by technology, and the pandemic is dealing a further blow to them with a 7.3% year-on-year drop in aggregate net profit for the three months to March.
Like most of its industry peers, KBank saw unaudited consolidated net profit fall: by 34.5% from a year earlier to 6.58 billion baht for the January-to-March quarter, mainly due to higher loan impairment charges and other operating expenses and a sharp decline in non-interest income.
KBank's ratio of gross NPLs to total loans at the end of March stood at 3.86%, up from 3.65% at the end of 2019.
"In my capacity as CEO, I'll push the capability of colleagues as much as possible," Ms Kattiya says. "We have a lot of smart guys, so we need to support them working together in order to strengthen our organisation."
BIO DATA
Kattiya Indaravijaya
Age: 54
EDUCATION
- Bachelor's degree in marketing, Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University
- MBA, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin
- Executive programme, Stanford University
CAREER
- 2020-present: Chief executive, Kasikornbank
- 2016-20: Co-president, KBank
- 2014-16: Senior executive vice-president, chief financial o cer, finance and control division, KBank
- 2010-14: Executive vice-president, chief financial o cer, finance and control division, KBank
- 2009-10: First senior vice-president, finance and control division, KBank
- 2005-09: First senior vice-president, retail business division, KBank
- 2005: First senior vice-president, corporate secretariat group, KBank
- 2000-04: Department head, corporate strategy department, KBank
- 1995-99: Vice-president, marketing and credit management department, KBank
- 1991-94: Assistant vice-president, investment banking department, KBank
- 1987-91: Manager, manufacturing and agriculture lending department, KBank
HOBBIES
- Travel, squash, community service (including deaf football project)