CIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) is planning an aggressive expansion of its wealth customers and their assets under management (AUM) this year to capitalise on the growing wealth of Thais amid the economic rebound.
The bank aims to expand the number of its wealth customers under its CIMB Preferred scheme to 70,000 this year from 58,627 last year, and raise their AUM to 250 billion baht from 180 billion, said head of wealth advisory Dusanee Klewpatinontha.
Improving economic momentum, greater investment opportunities across the world, and the bank's service and product development will facilitate the aggressive growth, she said.
CIMB Preferred, which was rolled out in 2012, is a special banking service CIMBT offers to its customers who have a minimum deposits or investment of 3 million baht at the bank.
The bank is easing the requirement by allowing those who have deposits or investments of 1 million baht and higher to become CIMB Preferred members in a bid to attract new customers.
The AUM of recent customers averages 3.5 million baht.
The bank's survey found the growth rate of Thais' wealth has doubled the country's gross domestic product growth rate over the past several years.
With this positive outlook, the bank aims to see wealth-related business' fee-based income grow to 920 million baht this year, rising 42.9% from 644 million in 2016.
She said that CIMB Preferred customers have diversified their investment portfolios into several products to catch up with greater investment opportunities across the world.
Deposits in 2012 dominated 88% of CIMB Preferred customer's AUM and mutual funds made up for the rest. But the proportion of deposits declined to 44% last year, while that of investment products surged to 30% and mutual funds and insurance products shared 20% and 6%, respectively, last year.
"Non-rated bill of exchange defaults have dampened the investment sentiment for mutual funds. Even though there is demand for the investment product, customers tread cautiously and need more product information. The situation is expected to become clearer in the second half," she said.
In a related development, Ms Dussanee said the looming US policy rate hike will not prompt the bank's preferred customers to reallocate their investment portfolios significantly.
The domestic market remains the attractive option to generate positive returns to CIMB Preferred customers, she said.
The bank is offering savings interest rates of up to 2.5% and derivatives products, regarded as high-risk investments, are being offered as alternatives for customers to earn higher returns, she said.