Wealthtech

DBS Vickers Powers Ahead With Digitalisation Plans To Double Regional Trading Volume

DBS Vickers (DBSV), the brokerage arm of DBS Bank, continues with digitalisation plans which they said will enable it to double its regional trading volume across its retail and institutional segments by 2025.

The brokerage’s shift to digital has been in the making for the past several years, resulting in the introduction of several solutions for its customers, including online customer onboarding and direct debiting as well as crediting for trades done across 11 exchanges in core markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, the US, and Thailand.

DBSV said that this, coupled with accelerated efforts to ramp up capacity expansion to accommodate higher trading volumes, enabled it to continue providing a “seamless trading experience” for its customers during the pandemic.

Lionel Lim

Lionel Lim, CEO of DBS Vickers said,

“Digital trading has become the new normal over the last few years and it is what customers have come to expect amid the Covid-19 pandemic. By providing a safe and fully integrated digital platform where our clients can access trading, investment advisory and wealth management solutions, we are able to create greater customer stickiness.”

The brokerage’s monthly average of new accounts opened, more than tripled in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year. Of this, more than 75% of accounts opened were multi-currency ones, enabling customers to undertake foreign exchange trades.

Internally, DBSV enhanced its digital infrastructure to facilitate collaboration between trading desks and support units. Despite the spike in trading volumes amid a more volatile market environment, DBSV’s 1H2020 income almost doubled year-on-year, even as a majority of employees worked from home.

Greater coordination between the various functions in the bank, including capital markets, treasury and markets, institutional banking and private banking, also strengthened the brokerage’s business resiliency amid the crisis by enabling deal distribution remotely.

For instance, though travel restrictions were in force across the globe, DBSV continued to actively engage investors through virtual roadshows, and registered a 25% increase in investor roadshows year-to-date as compared with the same period last year.

“Ironically, the travel restrictions have broadened our investors’ reach across the globe as more institutional clients accept virtual meetings as the new way of work. In fact, we have been able to double the number of meetings with our clients from the US and UK in the past few months compared to the same period last year. Time zones are also no longer an issue with technology, and we have been able to organise multiple meetings with different investors in various countries in just one day, enabling us to close the books for roadshows more efficiently,”

explained Lim.

Looking ahead, DBSV sees opportunities in Asia’s burgeoning capital markets and will be focusing on rolling out new digital products to tap rising interest in passive trading and expanding its online access to more markets globally.

Featured image: Lionel Lim, CEO of DBS Vickers