Credit Suisse’s strategy in Malaysia reflects its broad approach elsewhere: marrying private banking with investment banking to create a one-stop shop for clients.
The private banking team is overseen in the country by Young Jin Yee, market group head for Singapore and Malaysia. She has steered the focus to the next generation, ensuring the bank will remain a force to be reckoned with in the years to come. But that does not appear to have come at the expense of the wealthiest clients today: Credit Suisse banks more than 50% of those on country’s Forbes 50 rich list.
The firm’s wins in Malaysia last year included its mandate on the $265.6 million IPO of Leong Hup International, a poultry producer. The deal offers a good example of collaboration in action. Credit Suisse relationship managers worked alongside their investment banking colleagues for 20 months to bring the deal to fruition, but their hard work was worth it. Not only did the investment bank win an important source of revenue but the private bank generated net new assets as a result of the deal.
The Swiss bank puts a lot of emphasis on winning business from Malaysian entrepreneurs, but its own bankers can be just as entrepreneurial.