In this edition we focus on artificial intelligence and innovation management. Our UK branch gives an overview of AI and Robotics in wealth management. The US banking team shows how banks can improve customer relations by AI. Our insurance consultants provide examples on how to enable AI in life insurance or how health insurers can benefit from AI in medicine. In our «From Outside In»-interview we talk to US innovation expert and bestseller author Stephen Shapiro. Finally, we cast a glance at regulatory and compliance items: We have a view from Singapore on how to skin the money-laundering monster and from Europe on how GDPR could be an opportunity for enhancing data management.

Fraud in Private Banking| How to Efficiently Implement Chatbots| Is Your Data on Your Balance Sheet?
These and many more interesting topics are covered in this edition of the Magazine. In our «From Outside In» interview, we talk to Patrick Meier, an expert in the field of digital technology and co-founder of «We Robotics».

Our latest edition describes how you can «Accelerate your Bank's Transformation with Business Process Management» and offers you «New Perspectives on Customer Experience» among other interesting reads.
In our «From Outside In» Interview historian and international bestselling author Yuval Noah Harari explains his idea of a new level of evolution called the «Homo Deus».

In 2017, digital transformation will carry on having an increasing impact on our everyday lives as well as on the banking and insurance fields. In the face of radical market changes and increased customer demands we will all be pushed to develop, innovate and hopefully transform.

The financial industry is deeply rooted in history and has a more conservative approach than many other industries. Yet banks and insurance companies are constantly challenged by innovation.

Strong brands draw strength from their history. Since our foundation 18 years ago, our history has been characterized by continual growth, not only in terms of turnover and number of employees. As part of our strategic growth initiative, we are...

Since the surveillance and eavesdropping practices of the American National Security Agency (NSA) and other secret services became public by the
Snowden revelations in June 2013, a heated debate on transparency and....

We have been keeping a closer eye on the Facebook phenomenon of late. Until recently, companies in every sector saw social media as the way to go, and Facebook’s IPO was hailed as the next big thing; now the initial euphoria has evaporated somewhat. The performance of Facebook’s shares...

For many industries, Asia is viewed as one of the regions that can provide the required growth. In recent years, numerous reports about a continuously growing number of millionaires in the region have led many banks to focus their business on high net worth individuals and build it up considerably. This being said, wealth management is still a relatively...

The new European Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) intends to strengthen rights of individuals with regard to their personal data vis-à-vis companies. For Swiss and other non-EU financial institutions, one of the important rules is the extension of the territorial scope, which newly includes companies that process data of individuals in the EU when offering goods and services in the EU (e.g., Swiss financial institutions serving EU resident clients).

Open banking will lead to completely new forms of customer relationships and will enable the inclusion of third-party digital products. Obvious winners are customers and FinTechs - how can banks benefit from this?

With an intelligent target operating model, a bank can quickly adapt its operational processes to a new business strategy. The bank reference model «BANKINABOX®» was developed by Synpulse specifically for the purpose of offering a comprehensive and efficient solution.

Banks are slowly losing the primary banking relationship to their clients. More and more non-banks and payment service provider are taking over market shares through innovation, competitive prices and high quality service.

The private banking industry in Asia is undergoing times of increased M&A activity. This scenario follows international market dynamics, where a wave of consolidations is taking place in leading wealth management financial centers like Switzerland and a competition upsurge is occurring in growing markets like Latin America and Asia. For private banks operating in Asia, issues like China’s economic meltdown and, at a market level, cost pressures affecting banks’ operational models are challenges echoing on private banks’ annual growth rates in the last few years. In turn, industry players are pursuing either a merger or an acquisition as a way to achieve inorganic growth, resulting in a wave of consolidation in the regional market.

Given the criticality of advisory and the industry’s heavily marketed efforts in digital transformation and innovation, Synpulse set out to assess the current situation and progress in Hong Kong and Singapore. Overall the results were underwhelming. No experience stood out as exceptional. In fact, quality swung towards the lower end of the scale. Advisory seemed to be slumped in mediocrity.

The regulatory landscape coupled with evolving customer needs and behaviors poses significant challenges to private banks to remain profitable in Asia. The industry is following the trend in Europe towards consolidation and operational efficiency with the ambition to lower their operating costs. Adopting an industrialized business model cand help to reduce operating costs and operational risks.

In light of the growth story and bright prospects for Singapore’s nascent asset management industry, this paper sets out to describe the multiple facets which have contributed to the thriving hub, as well as provide a view on the emerging external asset management segment.

The insurance aggregator is an inevitable development in Singapore. Though triggered by local regulatory requirements for life insurance, the aggregator has an established presence in other partsof the world where financial advisory is at a mature stage.
Senior management leaders from the local insurance industry interviewed by Synpulse raise important issues regarding the aggregator’s viability and...

Following the release of the white paper discussing the financial advisory process for insurance in Hong Kong and Singapore, Synpulse encountered several discussions surrounding the recruitment and retention of financial advisor representatives (FA reps).

The key question put forth was — how can the industry and/or insurer attract promising FA reps and retain them? This question is critical to answer...

The External Asset Manager (EAM) business model is said to be the future of wealth management in Singapore and Hong Kong. However, are custodian banks making enough improvements to provide optimal support for EAMs? Read on to learn how Synpulse proposes a holistic approach for both small and bigger custodian banks to invest into their operating models to leverage their EAM business.

Most global and local private banks in Asia are continuing to invest heavily in their operations in order to keep pace with the agility needed to service the growing market of Asian multi-millionaires. As digitally savvy and wealthy customers look out for more sophisticated engagement via online channels, banks also strive to find smarter ways to on-board these new channels and scale them across markets while being compliant.

While a lot of attention has been dedicated to the professionalism of advisors and digital journeys, the advisory journey is a poorly explored area in terms of customer engagement and market differentiation. Synpulse conducted an online survey with working professionals to test their reaction towards the advisory process. The outcome is summarized in four lessons where tangible ways to open up the value aperture in the advisory process are highlighted.

In collaboration with GoBear, Asia’s only free metasearch engine for financial and insurance products, we explore how fairness plays an important part of customer purchase journey and its effects.

Implications on the Customer Journey
In this newsletter, we explore how a customer journey could be aligned with the inner workings of the mind and behavior. A casual survey was conducted to see how one would respond to an unforeseen event in their lives. Read to find out more.

Asian banks have relied on traditional branch-banking, face-to-face business model for many decades. However, the availability of new technologies and recent emergence of competition from fintech companies have prompted banks to take a new look on the client relationship model. Riding on the digital transformation wave that is sweeping across the industry, many banks in Asia have started their own digital journeys.

The digital direct channel has by far been underdeveloped despite its huge potential in Singapore. In life insurance industry however, only a small percentage of all new business premiums were sold through direct channels. This is in spite of the market having a ready and sizeable demand for online distribution, as outlined in our previous article.

In the history of disruptive innovation, 2015 could be the turning point for the insurance industry. A Chinese online insurer was ranked first in a global FinTech list. An online insurance start-upfrom UK won an award for FinTech Innovation of the Year. Innovationlabs have been opened one after another in Singapore by insurers with deep pockets and pragmatic vision.

Health insurance companies in Asia enjoy enviable demographic and economic developments.

Client Reporting – A strategic differentiator in a competitive private banking environment.

Investment Suitability: Transforming Your Advisory Framework.

Tackling digitisation with the eWealth banking model. Defining and implementing...

Agile and industrialized

Dilemmas, operating model and opportunities.

Pricing Study on European and Singapore markets

What every prudent Investor should consider.