Singapore banking giants DBS and OCBC accumulated a combined S$77 billion ($59.38 billion) in net new capital from high-net-worth clients over the course of 2025, according to data compiled by UOB Kay Hian analyst Jonathan Koh. This strong asset gathering carried directly into the first quarter of 2026, with wealth management fees surging by 25% at DBS and 34% at OCBC. Koh characterized this double-digit expansion as substantial, highlighting that the rapid scaling of the wealth management business generates highly advantageous spillover effects that bolster the lenders’ treasury revenues and bancassurance sales volumes.
The research indicates that Singaporean financial institutions are well-positioned to maintain their strong draw for global wealth, driven by growing international recognition of the city-state’s systemic and financial resilience during times of macroeconomic and geopolitical turbulence. Koh emphasized that factors such as Singapore’s safe-haven reputation, its utility for geographical asset diversification, and the ongoing accumulation and intergenerational transfer of wealth across the broader Asia-Pacific region will continue to drive steady growth in assets under management. Furthermore, the local banking sector remains insulated from external volatility by the government’s strong fiscal capacity to mitigate economic shocks, alongside the banks’ own robust underlying metrics, including stable asset quality, healthy capital adequacy ratios, and highly liquid balance sheets.
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