For a number of years now, Standard Chartered Wealth Management in Malaysia has been investing in areas that matter deeply to its customers. Understanding that every client is unique, it aims to make quality advisory accessible to its clients. Its value proposition is based around what StanChart calls the SMART Wealth Management framework. The SMART framework focuses on areas which include Solutions, Market insights, Advisory, Relationship management and Technology to help StanChart gain a good understanding of what its clients want and how to help them achieve their financial goals.
This laudable strategy did not go unnoticed and just recently, Standard Chartered Wealth Malaysia has been conferred the award Winner, Best Mass Affluent Banking Offering at the Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards 2020 (GRB Awards) by The Digital Banker.
“The SMART Wealth Management framework by Standard Chartered Bank is truly world-class. Through this framework, clients benefit from personalised and comprehensive advisory services delivered by a team of expert. In addition, they also enjoy transactional convenience offered via digital and remote transactional capabilities. By leveraging on technology, the bank has been able to deploy a robust digital investment platform, making StanChart Wealth Malaysia a trusted advisor to its clients nurturing a sustainable relationship with its clients,” said Nirav Patel, Managing Director at The Digital Banker during the awards virtual gala.
The SMART Framework
At the heart of StanChart’s SMART framework is the bank’s expertise in offering personalised investment advisory services to its clients across the footprint. As the industry shifts towards a more personalised approach to advisory services, the Bank’s relationship managers are being supported by a panel of internal wealth management specialists able to provide bespoke solutions that are further optimised by technology.
The Bank’s investment philosophy starts with the idea that diversity of perspectives, views and decision-makers are crucial when it comes to countering many of the decision-making biases all investors face. StanChart gathers as many views as possible from leading investment banks, independent research houses, central banks, asset managers and international organisations such as the IMF, World Bank and Bank of International Settlements before arriving at a particular conclusion or recommendation.
“At the heart of StanChart’s SMART framework is the bank’s expertise in offering personalised investment advisory services to its clients across the footprint.”
The team uses deep research and data analytics to perform adequate market and product due diligence. This is supplemented by products that are responsive to the peculiar needs of the market. For example, StanChart’s Asset Transfer programme is a solution that lets clients pool their investments under one roof, enabling them to get a 360⁰ view of their holdings. This product caters to the need for account aggregation services where one-stop shop for wealth management is in high demand.
StanChart’s SMART framework is further fortified by the bank’s strength in its technological capabilities.
StanChart, of late, has been investing heavily in digital capabilities offering its clients seamless access to their investments and other holdings with the bank.
One such example is StanChart’s SmartGoals, a digital investment platform that allows clients to take up investment products for as low as RM400, without the need to physically visit a bank branch. This first-of-its-kind platform is available through both the SC Mobile smartphone app and Standard Chartered online banking website.
Instead of trading investment products, the idea behind SmartGoals is to get people to think about their financial goals and then help them craft a path towards achieving them. As the platform is intelligent enough to understand the client’s risk tolerance and return preferences, it can offer a diversified portfolio of mutual funds tailored to those preferences.
For clients who favour access to more DIY options and prefer to trade within their own portfolios, StanChart has also recently launched its SmartDirect platform which offers one-touch access to more than 200 mutual funds available in as many as 5 different currencies. The bank is also committed to fulfilling the foreign currency needs of its clients and to that end has also recently launched LiveFX, a client-facing FX trading platform.
Lastly, in addition to its transactional capabilities, SC Wealth Malaysia has been one of the first banks in Malaysia to leverage on video conferencing capabilities within the government-imposed lockdown period, allowing them to reach out to clients without the need for physical interaction.
This, combined with its breadth of digital capabilities, has allowed SC Wealth Malaysia to reach out to clients and continue servicing them throughout the turbulent times arising from the global Covid-19 pandemic.
“The idea behind SmartGoals is to get people to think about their financial goals and then help them craft a path towards achieving them.”
Personal, effortless, and safe
By truly understanding clients’ needs – even in times of crisis – StanChart has been able to respond with initiatives that make wealth management easier for its clients. The SMART Wealth Management framework has benefited clients through:
- Personalised and comprehensive advice -clients get personalised services from their Relationship Managers who are supported by a team of wealth specialists that help clients create short and long-term financial strategies suitable for their needs or preferences.
- Technology – cutting-edge platforms such as SmartGoals, SmartDirect, and LiveFX enable clients to seamlessly act on StanChart’s expert investment advisory capabilities.
- Safety and convenience – both digital and remote transactional capabilities have enabled clients to access wealth management offerings from anywhere, anytime at the comfort of their own homes especially during the COVID-19 restricted movement period.
>> To read more about this story and other exclusive features about the digital banking landscape, download the latest issue of The Digital Banker Magazine HERE.
