The wealth management sector in Asia - and beyond - should learn insights from the hospitality and related sectors to ensure top-class service and client satisfaction, a leading business school figure says.

The private banking sector has much to learn in serving customers well from sectors such as the hospitality industry, a wealth management conference in Singapore has heard.

As the wealth of the Asia-Pacific region expands – bringing greater demands with it - so the need for the industry to maintain high standards will increase, Professor Joseph Cherian, director of CAMRI, National University of Singapore Business School told a conference organised by NUS last Friday.

“A recent poll, which was reported in local media, indicated that companies have been placing much emphasis on customer experience management (CEM) as the services industry becomes an integral part of Asian economies. However, the survey also showed that within this region, Singapore had the biggest gap between customer expectations and the ability of businesses to provide the level of CEM technology support required to meet the demand.”

"It is thus vital for financial institutions to place a strong emphasis on their services and, in this regard, there is plenty to learn from the hospitality industry," he added.

The issue of managing rapid growth might seem a nice problem to have in markets where economies have hit the buffers in recent years, such as Western Europe. In Asia, however, the issue of ensuring that private banking keeps pace with a rising affluent middle class remains a regular talking point. For example, Carlton Senior Appointments recently flagged the issue of a shortage of talent in the sector. (See here.) Separately, Temaswiss, a Singapore-headquartered organisation focusing on training private bankers, has also identified what it sees is a need to raise standards of training and quality in the industry. (To view the Temaswiss interview by this publication, see here. To see a list of post-grad courses around the world, including the Asia region, see here.) A report by Bain & Co, the consultants, entitled Customer Loyalty In Retail Banking – Global Edition, also looked at the high net worth end of the market, and saw how clients expected the kind of treatment in banking that they afforded in areas such as hotels and travel.

The event was called the 6th Wee Cho Yaw Singapore-China Finance and Banking Forum. The NUS’s Centre for Asset Management Research and Investments (CAMRI) oversaw the conference. It was moderated by Professor Anthony Neoh, Dean's Visiting Professor at NUS Business School and former chief advisor to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, a statement about the event that was issued last week.

Panelists included Ms Teo Swee Lian, Special Advisor, Managing Director's Office, Monetary Authority of Singapore; Piyush Gupta, group chief executive at DBS; Michael Zink, head of ASEAN and country officer for Singapore, Citigroup; Eddie Khoo, managing director and head, Group Personal Financial Services and Private Banking, UOB; and Robert Lagerwey, vice president, Operations, Capella Hotel Group Asia.