How should investment research be compared between different private banks? The obvious ways are to look at the performance of each firm’s top picks, to compare their thematic reports, or to consider the range of asset classes they cover. This is an understanding of investment research that has not changed since the fax machine was the latest in technology.
There is another way to consider the question. Which firms have made the best use of technology to innovate the entire process of investment research? How has that changed the way they offer research to clients? Siam Commercial Bank’s investment research thrives under this sort of scrutiny.
Under Metinee Jongsaliswang, head of private banking, it has used technology to expand its research offering while still ensuring it is tailored to each client.
SCB has used artificial intelligence to create its ‘easy invest robo-adviser’, a service on SCB’s mobile app that allows customers to define their goals, including their risk appetite, before suggesting a portfolio of investments.
The use of AI means SCB can offer bespoke investment advice even to its smallest clients. That supplements its team of investment consultants, who give old-fashioned – but still important – investment advice to key clients.
SCB has added some meat to its product offering. In the first quarter of 2020, it introduced private equity, knock-in knock-out options, bond forwards and Lombard loans.
But it still operates an open architecture model, making it willing to put investment advice before the desire to generate fee income for its own products. That is crucial for a firm that is putting advice at the heart of its pitch to clients.