Bank Mandiri’s private banking division had another solid year. It reported a 12% jump in total assets under management, year on year, to Rp260 trillion ($16.7 billion) in 2022.
One explanation is that the bank’s private wealth experts followed advice from the research staff at the broader banking group. From the advisories and warnings of Bank Mandiri’s research teams, the wealth management division – headed by Reggy Sianto – knew precisely when to re-enter global bond markets as inflation pressures were beginning to ease.
Fixed income investments ended up being the biggest contributor to the private bank’s 2022 returns, growing 39% year on year.
At a time of highly unstable markets, the private banking team relied on Bank Mandiri’s forecasts to advise clients to rebalance their portfolios and offer investment products to reduce risk exposures. The bank’s strategists encouraged clients to bet on equity products as markets in Indonesia and elsewhere in Asia seemed undervalued.
Between China’s slowdown, surging inflation, central bank rate hikes, a gyrating yen, the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Covid-19 risks and Washington-Beijing tensions, 2022 proved extraordinarily difficult to navigate.
Mandiri’s private bank clients, however, benefited from the synergies between the wealth management division and the broader Bank Mandiri Group. The wealth managers created tactical strategies involving the broader bank’s divisions, including investment management, brokerages, security houses, digital banking, and treasury to satisfy client needs.
Investment management partners also increasingly collaborated with the wealth management group. This enabled them to offer alternative investment products and mutual funds to meet client demand.
That is adding to the private bank’s revenue streams. Fee-based income, for instance, rose by 6.2% year on year in 2022. Bancassurance was the biggest contributor to revenues, rising 41%, demonstrating that relationship managers are indeed skilled at rebalancing client portfolios and giving clients sage advice.
Bank Mandiri’s private bankers can draw on the deep in-house knowledge from the Office of Chief Economist Group, Mandiri’s well-respected research think tank. Its main focus is on macroeconomic, industrial, regional and strategic research. The think tank team supports both external and internal stakeholders with in-depth analysis and proprietary reports. Its flagship publications are routinely used to supplement everything from government policymaking to internal business decisions.