Although overall group results were robust in 2022, the figures showed how investors' cautious behaviour affected wealth management business at OCBC.

OCBC, the parent of Bank of Singapore, last week reported that net fee income fell 18 per cent year-on-year in 2022 to S$1.85 billion ($1.96 billion), with softer wealth management fees taking a toll as clients shifted to lower-risk investments amidst difficult markets.

However, the market turmoil of last year had a positive effect on net trading income because clients transacted more business. Fee income rose 9 per cent to S$34 million, the Singapore-based banking group said in a statement. 

There was a net loss from the sale of investment securities, at S$206 million, against a comparable gain of S$92 million in 2021, caused mostly by bond portfolio rebalancing and positioning in the turbulent markets.

OCBC’s wealth management income stood at S$3.89 billion in 2022, down from S$4.01 billion a year earlier. It made up 33 per cent of total group income. Total assets under management stood at S$258 billion, against S$257 billion a year before. Net new money flows offset the downward effect of falling markets.

Across the group as a whole, net profit rose 18 per cent to S$5.75 billion in 2022. 

At the end of 2022, OCBC had a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a standard measure of a bank’s financial buffer – of 15.2 per cent.