Bank of Singapore is in risk-off mode as it advises clients to unload assets during rebounds and reduce overall leverage in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.
Chief executive of OCBC’s private banking arm Bahren Shaari said in a television interview that the bank was advising clients to sell on rebounds, especially for unwanted assets in the long-term. This follows the first two months of 2020 when the bank reportedly posted 100 percent and 86 percent year-on-year growth in derivatives and cash equities trading.
«That's the best time to do it,» he said in a «Bloomberg» report.
Whilst clients have already been reducing leverage «as much as possible» in the last few weeks, a «very select few» remain as highly leveraged traders and the bank is asking that they bring as much collateral as possible.
Hiring Not a Priority
On hiring, Bahren underlined that protecting existing jobs was the priority at the private bank which houses 400 relationship managers overseeing $117 billion in assets under management. While AUMs grew 15 percent year-on-year, its relationship manager count was little changed in the same period, Bahren added.
«If there are opportunities for us to look at good hires, we still look at that,» he said, adding that the bank was focusing on a segment covering global investors and family offices which represent 30 percent of the private bank’s AUMs.
«But I think you have to also bear in mind that in this market environment new bankers will have difficulties in bringing clients over.»
Unprepared Countries
Finance aside, Bahren also touched on the political state of matters, warning that warned that the crisis had just started and that nation states were currently ill-equipped for combat.
«We are only beginning to see the first part of the crisis,» Shaari said in a «Bloomberg» report. «Many countries are still not well prepared, still do not have a clear plan of how to deal with it.»
