Bankers riding Thai wealth boom

SINGAPORE: When Jittiwat Kantamala gave up his job here as a private banker with Credit Suisse Group AG to return to Bangkok, he assumed he’d have to find a new position in a different area of the financial industry. To his surprise, he quickly found a role as the local private bank head at CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, one of several firms riding a boom in Thailand’s wealth business.

Steady economic growth and a surging stock market are among the factors behind the rapidly swelling ranks of affluent Thais, according to a recent report by Capgemini SA. The total assets of the country’s 100,000-plus high-net-worth individuals rose 13 per cent to US$548 billion (RM2.25 trillion) last year, the second-fastest growth in the Asia-Pacific region after Indonesia.

Sensing the opportunity, wealth-management firms are hiring. Jittiwat says he plans to double his seven-person team of private bankers over the next year, in an effort to bring in new clients.

Each of the existing 500 highnet-worth account holders have an average 40 million baht (RM4.93 million) with Kuala Lumpur-based CIMB, he added.

Credit Suisse established a local wealth presence in 2016 and since then has doubled the number of Bangkok-based private bankers to about 12, according to a spokesman.

Private bankers are also attracted by the way the government is making it easier for rich Thais’ to invest overseas, which plays to their strength in international markets.

Thailand wants to see more investment abroad, partly to offset the country’s hefty trade surplus and ease upward pressure on the currency.

In 2015, the Bank of Thailand raised the limit on overseas property purchases by Thais to US$50 million annually and lifted the ceiling on foreign currency holdings in domestic banks.

That’s a contrast to Indonesia, where the government has been encouraging citizens to repatriate assets to bolster its tax revenues and stem capital outflows. Last year, it launched a ninemonth tax amnesty that offered lower tax rates to Indonesians who moved their money home.

CIMB recently raised its client threshold for private-banking services to 30 million baht from 10 million baht previously. Bloomberg