How Technology can be Harnessed to Drive Success in Asian Wealth Management

Yves started his career at Microsoft in 1998 and joined Indosuez Wealth Management Luxembourg in 2000, in charge of strategic and operational projects to support the bank’s development. He joined Calyon, presently Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, in France in 2001, where he was involved in various internal IT audit that assessed the reliability and security of Calyon’s Information System worldwide. In 2006, Yves transferred to CA Indosuez (Switzerland) SA in Lausanne where he held a number of positions within Crédit Agricole Private Banking Services (which became Azqore in June 2018). He was appointed the Head of Asia Operations based in Singapore in 2015 and has been a member of the Executive Committee since 2017. Yves has both French and Swiss citizenships and holds a Master of Science in ESME Sudia, France.

Michael Blake is Chief Executive Wealth Management Asia for Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), a family-owned private bank and specialist asset manager headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. In this capacity, Michael is responsible for the leadership and development of UBP’s wealth management business in Asia. He brings to the role a track record of leading cross-cultural teams during periods of growth and transformational change. Michael joined UBP in 2016 upon its successful acquisition of Coutts International. Prior to this, he was Chief Executive of Coutts International, with responsibility for leading its international wealth management business and overseeing its integration with UBP in Europe and Asia. Michael has lived in Asia for much of the past two decades and is active in various international affairs forums. He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and studied Mandarin in Beijing.

Alvin has responsibility over Maybank Group’s wealth business across the private banking, mass affluent as well as emerging affluent segments. The wealth business spans 8 countries and tops USD50b in combined AUM. Alvin Lee has 20+ years of banking experience across wealth management, corporate, consumer banking and treasury, with specialisations in product and risk management, as well as business development. Alvin’s vast experience across Asia, Europe, Africa and Middle East means that he is well attuned to local and global opportunities and challenges. Prior to joining Maybank, Alvin worked at Burgan Bank in Kuwait as a consultant to the CEO, managing the bank's Treasury function as well as its proprietary investment portfolio in fixed income, fund and private equity. He also spent 14 years with Citibank and four years with Barclays in London. He began his career at JP Morgan. He has proven track records in establishing new product lines, implementing bank investment strategy across different asset classes and managing specialist teams with ethnic and national diversity.

Omar joined the Organisation team at Crédit Agricole Private Banking Services in 2001 (which became Azqore in June 2018), in charge of strategic and operational projects to support the bank’s development. In 2007, Omar joined Crédit Agricole CIB in London where he focused on the structuring and sales of commodity derivatives. He was then in charge of commodity derivatives activities within the Capital Markets division in Geneva. Named Head of the Financial Intermediaries Department in Geneva in 2010, Omar was responsible for all activities related to this department, both in Switzerland and Asia. Since 2017, he has been Head of Markets, Investment & Structuring teams for Indosuez in Switzerland and Asia and member of the Executive Committee of CA Indosuez (Switzerland) SA. Omar holds a master’s in mathematics from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), obtained in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston (2001). He also holds an MBA from the IMD business school in Lausanne (2006).

Terence Chow is Head of RBC Wealth Management – Asia. In this role, Terence is responsible for the wealth management businesses based in Hong Kong (SAR) and Singapore, servicing High Net-worth and Ultra High Net-worth investors, with a strategic focus on Asia’s Global Families. Terence re-joined RBC in 2005, working in the bank’s Capital Markets division in a variety of different roles, ranging from strategy, planning, operations and project execution. In 2015, Terence was appointed Vice President and Head of WM Operations Canada, expanding to include Asia in 2017, supporting the WM businesses in Canada, Asia, as well as Direct Investing. Most recently, Terence was COO, Wealth Management – Asia. Terence holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business and currently lives in Hong Kong with his wife Nicole.

Alex currently heads up the First Line of Defence Risk & Regulatory Management, and COO functions in UOB Private Bank. An accountant by training, Alex started his career at Price Waterhouse after graduating with a First Class Honours from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is also a Lean Six Sigma trained - Green Belt. He moved to Andersen Consulting (renamed as Accenture in 2000), and enjoyed the life of a Business Process Re-engineering consultant specialising in the area of Finance and Performance Management, with a focus on risk and controls processes, for clients across Asia. Alex was approached by the Chief Operational Risk Officer in Asia to start up a Business Risk Unit in Citi Wealth Management. This team focused on the management of key business and regulatory risks in the front office - covering investment sales and product suitability, KYC and AML- related matters as well as managing of operational risks across business units across the private bank. Alex started, and was the Editor-in-Chief, of Citi Wealth Management's very first Business Risk newsletter, titled 'Risk Quotient', in Asia, with the objective of enhancing general risk awareness in the bank. It was well-received by the bankers. After Citi, Alex joined Barclays Wealth and successfully built up the Risk and Controls team in Asia, covering Singapore, Hong Kong and India. He established it as a one-stop shop for the business to consult on all risk and controls related issues, with an emphasis on pro-active management of risks, achieved through 'thematic' end-to-end reviews. Alex also headed up the global role of Cross-Functional Process & Controls, driving best practices across Barclays Wealth's operations in Europe and Asia. With his role at UBS Wealth Management, covering business and regulatory risks for the Investment Products and Services division, across Asia, Alex achieved the unique experience of having managed risks, in depth and front-to-back across Wealth Management.

Michael Blake is Chief Executive Wealth Management Asia for Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), a family-owned private bank and specialist asset manager headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. In this capacity, Michael is responsible for the leadership and development of UBP’s wealth management business in Asia. He brings to the role a track record of leading cross-cultural teams during periods of growth and transformational change. Michael joined UBP in 2016 upon its successful acquisition of Coutts International. Prior to this, he was Chief Executive of Coutts International, with responsibility for leading its international wealth management business and overseeing its integration with UBP in Europe and Asia. Michael has lived in Asia for much of the past two decades and is active in various international affairs forums. He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and studied Mandarin in Beijing.

Omar joined the Organisation team at Crédit Agricole Private Banking Services in 2001 (which became Azqore in June 2018), in charge of strategic and operational projects to support the bank’s development. In 2007, Omar joined Crédit Agricole CIB in London where he focused on the structuring and sales of commodity derivatives. He was then in charge of commodity derivatives activities within the Capital Markets division in Geneva. Named Head of the Financial Intermediaries Department in Geneva in 2010, Omar was responsible for all activities related to this department, both in Switzerland and Asia. Since 2017, he has been Head of Markets, Investment & Structuring teams for Indosuez in Switzerland and Asia and member of the Executive Committee of CA Indosuez (Switzerland) SA. Omar holds a master’s in mathematics from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), obtained in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston (2001). He also holds an MBA from the IMD business school in Lausanne (2006).

Terence Chow is Head of RBC Wealth Management – Asia. In this role, Terence is responsible for the wealth management businesses based in Hong Kong (SAR) and Singapore, servicing High Net-worth and Ultra High Net-worth investors, with a strategic focus on Asia’s Global Families. Terence re-joined RBC in 2005, working in the bank’s Capital Markets division in a variety of different roles, ranging from strategy, planning, operations and project execution. In 2015, Terence was appointed Vice President and Head of WM Operations Canada, expanding to include Asia in 2017, supporting the WM businesses in Canada, Asia, as well as Direct Investing. Most recently, Terence was COO, Wealth Management – Asia. Terence holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business and currently lives in Hong Kong with his wife Nicole.

Alex currently heads up the First Line of Defence Risk & Regulatory Management, and COO functions in UOB Private Bank. An accountant by training, Alex started his career at Price Waterhouse after graduating with a First Class Honours from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is also a Lean Six Sigma trained - Green Belt. He moved to Andersen Consulting (renamed as Accenture in 2000), and enjoyed the life of a Business Process Re-engineering consultant specialising in the area of Finance and Performance Management, with a focus on risk and controls processes, for clients across Asia. Alex was approached by the Chief Operational Risk Officer in Asia to start up a Business Risk Unit in Citi Wealth Management. This team focused on the management of key business and regulatory risks in the front office - covering investment sales and product suitability, KYC and AML- related matters as well as managing of operational risks across business units across the private bank. Alex started, and was the Editor-in-Chief, of Citi Wealth Management's very first Business Risk newsletter, titled 'Risk Quotient', in Asia, with the objective of enhancing general risk awareness in the bank. It was well-received by the bankers. After Citi, Alex joined Barclays Wealth and successfully built up the Risk and Controls team in Asia, covering Singapore, Hong Kong and India. He established it as a one-stop shop for the business to consult on all risk and controls related issues, with an emphasis on pro-active management of risks, achieved through 'thematic' end-to-end reviews. Alex also headed up the global role of Cross-Functional Process & Controls, driving best practices across Barclays Wealth's operations in Europe and Asia. With his role at UBS Wealth Management, covering business and regulatory risks for the Investment Products and Services division, across Asia, Alex achieved the unique experience of having managed risks, in depth and front-to-back across Wealth Management.

Alvin has responsibility over Maybank Group’s wealth business across the private banking, mass affluent as well as emerging affluent segments. The wealth business spans 8 countries and tops USD50b in combined AUM. Alvin Lee has 20+ years of banking experience across wealth management, corporate, consumer banking and treasury, with specialisations in product and risk management, as well as business development. Alvin’s vast experience across Asia, Europe, Africa and Middle East means that he is well attuned to local and global opportunities and challenges. Prior to joining Maybank, Alvin worked at Burgan Bank in Kuwait as a consultant to the CEO, managing the bank's Treasury function as well as its proprietary investment portfolio in fixed income, fund and private equity. He also spent 14 years with Citibank and four years with Barclays in London. He began his career at JP Morgan. He has proven track records in establishing new product lines, implementing bank investment strategy across different asset classes and managing specialist teams with ethnic and national diversity.

Yves started his career at Microsoft in 1998 and joined Indosuez Wealth Management Luxembourg in 2000, in charge of strategic and operational projects to support the bank’s development. He joined Calyon, presently Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, in France in 2001, where he was involved in various internal IT audit that assessed the reliability and security of Calyon’s Information System worldwide. In 2006, Yves transferred to CA Indosuez (Switzerland) SA in Lausanne where he held a number of positions within Crédit Agricole Private Banking Services (which became Azqore in June 2018). He was appointed the Head of Asia Operations based in Singapore in 2015 and has been a member of the Executive Committee since 2017. Yves has both French and Swiss citizenships and holds a Master of Science in ESME Sudia, France.