In celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, finews.asia takes a look at some of the most influential names in the region's private banking industry – a business renowned for the prevalence of female leaders.
Asia’s private banking industry is well known for the prevalence of women in high places, especially within the front office. According to 2019 estimates by search firm Korn Ferry, females held half of the managing director positions at private banks in Hong Kong and 30 percent overall in Asia, both significantly higher than Europe’s 10 percent.
Due to a number of factors involving socioeconomics, culture, history and more, this has been the case since the industry’s early days and the trend is likely to persist.
In recognition of International Women’s Day, finews.asia takes a look at the top 10 most influential names (in alphabetical order) in the history of private banking in Asia.
Dominique Boer
Credit Suisse’s recently appointed deputy CEO of Singapore, Dominique Boer, is a staple voice when it comes to women in wealth management.
On this matter, she is a regular speaker at events and is oft-quoted in the media. And her comments are not limited to generic feel-good statements about equality, but pragmatic insights specific to the region. Examples include the historically dominant role of women in household finances or the large portion of female bankers driven in part by high female participation in Asia's workforce.
These insights are backed by more than 30 years of banking experience, including her additional roles at Credit Suisse as market group head of Singapore and CEO of SymAsia Foundation. Prior to joining the Swiss bank in 2015, she held various senior roles at Standard Chartered covering Southeast Asia and Greater China markets.
Vivian Chan
Vivian Chan was previously quoted as saying that her motto for success was to focus on one thing, do it repeatedly and become an expert. And there is no better example of walking the walk than her long and illustrious private banking career.
While many on this list are experts in more than one area of the financial sector, across investment banking, asset management, commercial banking and more, Chan is a purist, with over 40 years of experience in private banking.
After holding senior leadership roles at Citibank and Credit Suisse, where she was last a Greater China market leader, Chan joined Barclays in 2013 as its North Asia head of private banking. In 2017, she was hired by Standard Chartered as its regional head of private banking for Greater China and North Asia before being named global vice chairman of private banking in 2022.
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