New Office
Credit Suisse Opens Wealth Management Operations In Thailand

The Swiss bank is pushing into the South East Asian country with wealth management operations, eyeing strong growth potential in the country.
Credit Suisse
has formally launched wealth management operations in
Thailand with a gala dinner in Bangkok attended by clients
and eminent officials, signposting its continued drive to win
business in Asia.
The dinner was held at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok yesterday.
Attendees included Rapee Sucharitakul, Secretary-General, the
Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand and
Kesara Manchusree, president of the Stock Exchange of
Thailand.
Switzerland’s second-largest bank has set up a client
relationship team through its securities entity, Credit Suisse
Securities (Thailand), which operates out of Bangkok, covering
clients across the nation, and offering access to an
international investment and wealth management platform via its
regional private banking hub in Singapore. The operation targets
high net worth individuals (defined as having at least $2 million
of assets) and ultra-high net worth persons (at least $50 million
in assets under management or $250 million in “net wealth”),
the bank said in a statement.
Thailand, while a country that has experienced political
instability at times, has a sizeable HNW wealth pool. According
to the RBC Wealth Management/Capgemini 2015 Asia Pacific
Wealth Report, there are around 91,000 HNWIs in Thailand
with more than $1 million in investable assets, owning
a total of $456 billion of investable wealth. And according
to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report 2015, there
are also an estimated 340 UHNWIs with more than $50 million
in net wealth. Moreover, the Credit Suisse’s Asian Family
Business Report found that 66 per cent of all listed
companies in Thailand with market capitalisation above $50
million are family-owned businesses, representing almost half of
total market capitalisation in the country.
The bank said it had established an “initial local team” of
investment planners.
“Expanding our business in Thailand is an important milestone in
Credit Suisse’s growth strategy in Asia-Pacific, where the bank
has committed significant investments and capital to expand its
businesses and footprint. Our focus is on being a partner to our
high-net-worth individual, entrepreneur and institutional clients
and supporting them in their growth ambitions,” said Helman
Sitohang, Credit Suisse's chief executive for
Asia-Pacific.