Road to Excellence: How Alliance Bank Built a Foundation for Future-Proof Digital Competencies in a Fast-Growing Wealth Management Business

The wealth management business in Malaysia has been growing steadily over the last 10 years with a compounded annual growth rate of 7.5% p.a. Investment Asset Under Management for the Mass, Affluent and High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWI) segment accounts to an estimated MYR 750 billion today. According to the Capgemini report, Malaysia’s HNWI population and assets under management have increased significantly.

The strong growth in the space of wealth, arising from rising affluence, financial literacy, regulatory support and product innovation, has also given rise in demand for smarter, digitally-enabled wealth solutions to meet their investment account expectations

Like other matured markets offering wealth solutions, Malaysia is also moving towards the trend to digitalise its investment product offerings and services. Recognising the need to be innovative to stay ahead, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad (Alliance Bank) partnered with Comarch to offer new capabilities in servicing their wealth clients using technology as a key enabler. 

Opportunities 

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the key driver of many projects, including wealth management. AI will eventually pave the way for personalised investment advice and improve operational efficiency. 

The use of AI will play a significant role in elevating the wealth management experience. This burgeoning technology paves the way for relationship managers (RMs) to be more productive by helping them conduct their daily portfolio reviews in a more timely manner. Apart from assisting RMs to perform better, AI also has the potential to make personalised recommendations to clients by matching their investment risk appetite with more suitable products.

Whilst AI will play an important role in shaping the market, humans remain the engine powering the wealth management business, as AI and other technology platforms serve as a complementary piece to RMs in providing more effective and comprehensive service to satisfy the financial needs of their clients.

Clients’ needs are evolving. 

Wealth management has been growing steadily at a rate of 7.5% per year because clients today see the importance of wealth accumulation and distribution.  Over the last 10 years, clients have been looking beyond product solutions.  Their needs have evolved and are now demanding more comprehensive wealth planning solutions. With AI and Technology, banks can now offer a more holistic and comprehensive solution to guide clients towards making more informed decisions in choosing products which suit their financial goals.

Modern Clients also require banks to offer increasingly personalised services, such as estate planning, family wealth consolidation, or wealth transfer. At the same time, they expect more sophisticated products such as structured investments, offshore solutions, or Shariah-compliant offerings. This demand for a plethora of investment solutions by banks means there is an urgent need for automation across end-to-end workflows, risk management tools, and connectivity with trading venues and data providers.

Sustainability of the franchise requires banks to strengthen their compliance AI and Tech will play an integral role in ensuring a balanced growth of the business whilst ensuring clients’ hard-earned money is protected.   

Wealth Management as the centre of business 

Alliance Bank believes that serving their clients with robust wealth management products is an integral part of its proposition as The Bank For Life.  With that mission in mind, they have partnered with Comarch to offer an end-to-end comprehensive Wealth Management solution for all their clients across all segments.

Over the next few years, the bank's business will evolve using tech (built with Comarch) in enhancing  clients’ wealth. The collaboration will optimise the efficiency of relationship managers and standardise wealth services offerings and solutions across all branches, channels, and client segments.

Clients will benefit from the bank’s investment offering through digital channels, gaining access to a consolidated wealth picture, the ability to place orders, and interact directly with RMs or the bank’s customer service personnel. At the same time, the platform will further strengthen the digital communication and interaction between RMs and their clients, reinforcing the client–bank relationship. It will also enable the delivery of product offerings through personalised and tailored campaigns, as well as fully digitising the onboarding process for wealth and banking products.

With the Comarch wealth management platform, Alliance bank aims to enhance its wealth management services for its clients.  Solutions will be targeted and tailored to individuals based on their life goals. This new proposition aims at keeping clients loyal and confident with the bank’s value proposition in the long term.