International Finance
Wealth Management

Maybank and WMI set up wealth management academy

Maybank, WMI, Nanyang Tech University, Singapore, wealth management, Asia Pacific
Malaysian banking major Maybank Group has signed a strategic partnership with Wealth Management Institute (WMI) of Nanyang Technological University Singapore to establish the Maybank Wealth Management Academy (WMA) 
The Maybank WMA is the first of its kind by a bank in Malaysia, and Maybank is the first Malaysian bank to roll out a regional wealth management curriculum with WM, said NTU. It will offer a practice-based curriculum targeted at 1,200 sales staff, wealth specialists and managers across the Bank’s three client segments of private, premier and privilege wealth in eight of Maybank’s global markets, namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Brunei and London.
Maybank group chief human capital officer Nora Abdul Manaf said that the WMA is one of the key initiatives by Maybank as part of its strategic objectives to be a top community bank in the region. “The WMA will help enhance the skills and competencies of our wealth management personnel while keeping them abreast of new opportunities that are emerging in the fast-changing 4.0 environment today. The curriculum offered at WMA will complement the Bank’s digital upskilling initiative – the FutureReady upskilling programme. With growing affluence and investment options, a​​s well as increasing demand for wealth management services, it is imperative for our people to be well-equipped to ensure our clients enjoy the best advice and returns for their investments.”
Professor Ling San, NTU provost and vice-president (academic), said, “This is an exciting programme that combines NTU’s academic rigour with the best practices of our industry partners, to better prepare Maybank’s wealth management practitioners for the increasingly competitive and dynamic global landscape, and future challenges. The trainers are leading wealth management practitioners and academics with extensive global experience and who are well-versed with the latest industry trends and developments.”​
The first phase of this partnership will see more than 150 Maybank relationship managers, client advisers, wealth managers and specialists from Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong are enrolled in the inaugural course currently being held in Singapore and Malaysia.
A total of three courses are offered: WMI’s Private Banking Wealth Management Programme (PBWM) accredited at Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) Level 1 Private Banking, a customised version of PBWM, as well as an in-depth Investment Advisory programme accredited at IBF Level 2/3 Private Banking. All participants who complete the rigorous training and assessment programme will also receive a certification from WMI. The WMI programmes are accredited by IBF, the national accreditation and certification agency for financial industry competency in Singapore. Foo Mee Har, CEO of WMI said, “We are honoured to partner Maybank in their strategic efforts to invest in the education and training of their employees, in order to meet the increasing demand for wealth management services. We look forward to leveraging our extensive experience of training over 14,500 finance professionals from 23 countries as well as our strong network of leading wealth management practitioners and NTU faculty in this partnership.
“We believe that our comprehensive suite of practice-based programmes incorporating an Asian focus with global perspectives will enable Maybank’s wealth managers to gain deep, relevant and practical skills and expertise to meet the full spectrum of clients’ investment and wealth planning needs well into the future.”
Alvin Lee, Maybank’s head of group wealth management and community financial services Singapore, added that in wealth management, Asia-Pacific region is expected to continue its growth trajectory in the foreseeable future. It is expected to surpass US$40 trillion in assets under management by 2025 . With opportunities abound in the region, wealth management business is expected to accelerate, and talent and expertise are critical elements to the success. We want to be a key partner in our clients’ wealth management journey and ensure we have in place a strong focus on competency and continued education for our wealth managers so that they can develop the requisite mastery in wealth and asset management that will be relevant to our clients.”
Wealth management is one of Maybank’s key focus areas. The Wealth Management Academy initiative is part of Maybank Group’s Wealth Management aspirations, which is to be amongst the Top 20 Wealth Management Players in Asia-Pacific.

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