The wealth arm of DBS saw net new money inflows more than double in 2022, despite a challenging year that saw mass de-risking.
The wealth management client segment at DBS registered a more than doubling of net new money inflows in 2022, according to the bank’s annual results. This contributed to a 9 percent increase in assets under management to S$297 billion.
Coupled with higher interest rates, this allowed the Singaporean lender to more than offset lower fee income from investment sales, resulting in a 20 percent growth in wealth income. Total income from consumer banking and wealth management rose 25 percent to S$6.7 billion.
DBS's wealth management business covers a wide range of client segments, from affluent to private banking.
Lower Wealth Loans, Fees
Within the bank’s book, loans rose 4 percent to S$415 billion with growth in the first nine months moderated by a slight decline in the fourth quarter. This was notably driven by a reduction in margin loans amongst wealth management clients, alongside other factors.
Wealth management fees also fell 26 percent to S$1.3 billion as «weaker market conditions led to lower investment product sales».
Overall, DBS posted a 20 percent increase in the group's net profit to S$8.2 billion in 2022, driven in part by a record-high income of S$16.5 billion due to higher interest income.
