As the new chief executive of TMBAM Eastspring (TMBAM ES), Adisorn Sermchaiwong has set his sights on rebuilding the asset management company to cement its status as the top firm in the mutual fund industry.
Newly appointed TMBAM Eastspring CEO Adisorn Sermchaiwong.
Mr Adisorn was appointed the top executive at TMBAM ES, effective on Sept 10. Under a consolidation between TMB Bank and Thanachart Bank, Mr Adisorn will have a key role in the integration of asset management subsidiaries of the merged bank to propel business growth.
"I aim to take TMBAM ES to return to the top position again," he said.
Mr Adisorn will assume his role from Boonchai Kiattanavith, former chief executive of TFUND Eastspring, and Somjin Sornpaisarn, former chief executive of TMBAM ES.
Mr Boonchai left the company to pursue other interests, while Mr Somjin has retired after serving as TMBAM ES's chief executive for 11 years.
Eastspring Investments, the Asian asset management business of Prudential Plc, acquired 65% of TMB Asset Management (now TMBAM Eastspring) in September 2018, and 50.1% of Thanachart Fund (now Thanachart Fund Eastspring) in December 2019.
Through Eastspring's combined holdings, the firm is the fifth largest asset management fund in Thailand, with a market share of 8% and combined assets under management of 379 billion baht as of July 2020.
With more than 25 years' experience in the financial industry, Mr Adisorn extensively covered asset management and wealth management businesses.
He served as president of SCB Asset Management (SCBAM), a subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank (SCB).
His time as president and chief executive of SCBAM dates back to 2002 when the asset management firm was ranked around the 8th-10th positions in the mutual fund industry in terms of market share, while then-TMBAM was the top-ranked firm.
Mr Adisorn spent five years upgrading SCBAM to become the industry's top asset management firm before leaving at the end 2007 to serve as executive vice-president of SCB in 2008.
In 2012, Mr Adisorn joined CIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) as senior executive vice-president and head of consumer banking before becoming the bank's chief executive later on.
Mr Adisorn decided to step down from the top post at CIMBT after he was approached to assume the top executive position at TMBAM ES.
"Many people are confused why I resigned as CIMBT's chief executive to become executive at an asset management firm. The answer is I want to do a challenging task," he said.
"So, either as CEO of a bank or an asset management company, this does not matter for me."
Mr Adisorn, 54, initially planned to retire from his career as a banker when turning 55. But now that he has joined TMBAM ES, he will prolong his retirement to 60 instead.
"Returning as a fund manager is a big challenge for me. I want to develop an asset management business in Thailand and build up Thai people's wealth," he said.
Initially, he plans to improve sales of investment products by improving the skills and services of financial advisers. The advisers then should hone these skills and impart investment knowledge and a better understanding of investment products for customers.
Since Thailand has entered into an aged society, building up people's wealth is important for retirement preparation.
"This is not an easy thing to do, but it must be done," said Mr Adisorn.