Key Points:
- Bank of Singapore (BOS) is hiring “pretty aggressively” in 2026 to capture a larger share of the fast-growing ultra-wealthy market.
- CEO Jason Moo stated that the bank is shifting its primary focus to ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients with over $100 million in assets.
- Under Moo’s leadership, the bank’s assets under management (AUM) surged from $120 billion in 2023 to exceed $145 billion in 2026.
- The private bank aims to grow the proportion of its assets contributed by UHNW clients by a massive 30% by 2028.
Bank of Singapore (BOS), the private banking subsidiary of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), is launching a major hiring offensive as part of its strategy to capture Asia’s rapidly expanding wealth pool. Speaking in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, Chief Executive Officer Jason Moo announced that the private bank is hiring “pretty aggressively” this year, returning to expansion mode to establish itself as a premier household bank for Asia’s ultra-rich.
The private bank is sharpening its focus on ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals, defined as clients with at least $30 million in investable assets. Moo explained the blunt mathematical calculation that is shaping this next phase of corporate growth, noting that the physical and advisory effort required to manage a $100 million client is virtually identical to that required for a $10 million client. Consequently, the bank wants to focus its resources on accumulating these much larger portfolios to drive higher operational efficiency and profitability.
This targeted wealth push aims to propel the bank into Asia’s top five standalone private banks within the next three to five years. Currently, regional industry trackers rank Bank of Singapore seventh. However, the bank’s assets under management (AUM) have risen significantly under Moo’s leadership, climbing from approximately $120 billion in early 2023 to exceed $145 billion. This impressive asset growth occurred despite the bank raising its minimum account size last year from $3 million to $5 million.
To support this growth, Bank of Singapore is actively expanding its advisory workforce across key regional wealth hubs. The private bank currently employs roughly 500 relationship managers, representing a notable increase from the 400 advisers on its payroll in 2023. After pacing its hiring moderately last year, the bank is switching back to aggressive recruitment mode for the remainder of 2026 to capture a larger share of the global wealth market, which analysts project will exceed $150 trillion over the coming decade.
A highly integrated business model backs this hiring offensive, connecting the private bank with its parent group’s broader “whole-of-wealth” ecosystem. Under this framework, Bank of Singapore co-designs products and coordinates sales campaigns with OCBC and its insurance subsidiary Great Eastern Holdings. This integrated approach has successfully driven new customer acquisition, boosting OCBC’s first-quarter wealth fees by a spectacular 34% year-on-year and raising its overall profit margins by an estimated 1.5%.
Furthermore, the bank is rolling out highly sophisticated, bespoke investment capabilities to attract these ultra-wealthy families. This includes the launch of the “CIO Lab,” a dedicated advisory center where senior investment strategists build customized asset allocation models based on clients’ local currencies, multi-jurisdictional tax exposures, and corporate insurance holdings. The bank is also designing exclusive financial products tailored specifically for clients possessing investable assets of $100 million or more.
To manage these complex wealth structures, the bank has recently completed several high-profile leadership appointments. Effective May 4, 2026, Elvin Ho joined Bank of Singapore as the Head of Family Office and Structuring Solutions. Ho, a veteran wealth planner who previously advised prominent families across Southeast Asia at JPMorgan Private Bank and UBS, will lead the bank’s competency and solutions center. Additionally, the bank appointed Jiawen Guo as the Head of Family Office and Wealth Advisory for Singapore, overseeing the local advisory team.
As the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in human history continues to unfold, securing and managing these multi-million-dollar family fortunes has become the most competitive segment of global banking. By combining aggressive recruitment with state-of-the-art advisory tools and deep group-level integration, Bank of Singapore is positioning itself to scale its business successfully. If Moo’s team can successfully hit its target of growing its UHNW assets by 30% by 2028, the private bank will solidify Singapore’s status as a leading, highly resilient global wealth capital.
