The wealth management side of the business has helped to drive the Singapore-headquartered bank's results.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, or OCBC, parent of Bank of Singapore, reportedly intends to expand its wealth management staff in Hong Kong by 30 per cent this year.

The lender will add between 30 and 50 relationship managers in the city as income from the wealth business there has risen fivefold since 2023, Josephine Lee, OCBC’s head of Hong Kong consumer financial services, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in a media briefing. A new category of services targeting those with at least $1 million is being added this year too, she said.

As the report noted, OCBC’s services for wealthy clients have been helping to drive profit, with its first-quarter earnings beating estimates after fees related to wealth services surged. (See WealthBriefingAsia’s report of the figures.) In Hong Kong, demand for wealth accounts has grown from customers both inside and outside the jurisdiction who are seeking products including financing, Lee said.

“We have to scale up our RMs to best serve them,” Lee said.

A few days earlier, the bank said it has agreed to buy the Indonesian wealth business, fitting with the lender’s New Frontier strategy.