Kiatnakin Phatra casts net

SET-listed Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group (KKP) has expanded its wealth management base to include the middleincome group, says Kulnan Tsantaiwo, first executive vice-president for private banking.

“That means the top income earners in the middle-income segment or those with a net worth of at least 2 million baht,” she said.

Mrs Kulnan said Kiatnakin Phatra’s wealth management had focused on highnet-worth clients with minimum assets of 30 million baht but this group had relatively small room to grow and competition was getting tougher.

She said the company targets the middle-income group’s assets under management to reach 80 billion baht from 10 billion now.

Kiatnakin Phatra has more than 5,000 high-net-worth customers with assets under its management of 500 billion baht.

Mrs Kulnan said the company has approached new customers mainly through electronic platforms, while advice and transactions management are also mainly done online.

Phatra Wealth Management Research examined average returns from each asset class from 2007-14. It found deposits generated only 1.5%, the money market 2.1%, bonds 5.9%, gold 7.7%, asset allocation 10.2%, property funds 12.2% and equity investment 15%.

“White-collar workers need to work hard to earn for savings, but returns of only 1.5% from bank deposits are not enough for retirement,” Mrs Kulnan said.

Anuchit Anuchitanukul, a first executive vice-president, said the decrease of deposit protection to only 1 million baht maximum per account next year under the Deposit Protection Act should give Kiatnakin Phatra more opportunities for wealth management.

“The lower protection will increase the number of i nvestors,” he said. “Deposit returns are very low compared with other types of investment.”