What does the company do?
Oversea-China Banking Corporation ("OCBC") is the oldest established bank in Singapore, born from the union of three local banks in 1932. Based on assets, OCBC now ranks as the second largest bank in its field in Southeast Asia, after its domestic peer DBS. The bank considers Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China as its key markets, with more than 470 branches and representative offices spread across 19 countries and regions.
With its subsidiaries, OCBC offers services ranging from consumer, corporate, investment, private and transaction banking to treasury, insurance, asset management and stockbroking services. The Investment Manager has been invested in OCBC for close to 20 years and it has proven to be a rewarding long-term investment, reflecting its high quality characteristics. OCBC's prudent management of its franchise has led to assets under management rising both organically and through bolt-on acquisitions, such as Bank NISP in Indonesia and Wing Hang Bank in Hong Kong. This has expanded its presence in Asia and increased the breadth of its financial offerings over the years, enabling it to access more markets across the region. The group also has a highly successful wealth management business, while its insurance arm is one of the oldest and most established life insurance groups in Singapore and Malaysia. Its asset management unit is one of Southeast Asia's largest private sector asset management companies. All this means it can leverage its sales and distribution network in cross selling complementary financial products such as insurance, retirement, and brokerage services across its customer base.
Among its significant ESG efforts, OCBC was the first bank in Singapore to stop funding coal-fired plants and sign up to the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, an industry initiative to standardise climate risk disclosures in company filings, in 2019. A year later, OCBC adopted the Equator Principles, a globally recognised framework for assessing environmental and social risks in large-scale projects such as basic infrastructure, expanded transport links and enhanced access to energy and water. On sustainable financing, OCBC met its target to build a S$10 billion sustainable finance portfolio in 2020, two years ahead of schedule. The bank now has a renewed target of S$25 billion by 2025 and has already exceeded this target with commitments of S$30 billion. It has also launched a framework for small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") to access up to S$20 million of sustainable financing to help its SME customers accelerate their sustainability plans.
Companies selected for illustrative purposes only to demonstrate the investment management style described herein and not as an investment recommendation or indication of future performance.