Softer OCBC Wealth Fees As Investors Cut Risk

Editorial Staff

27 February 2023

, 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.