Thai banks have joined the race among Southeast Asian financial institutions eager to capitalise on the growing wealth management business, driven by the country’s slow loan growth and low interest rates, say analysts.
A slow loan growth forecast for 2026-2028 and low interest rates are the key drivers for banks to grow their fee income from wealth management services without setting aside additional credit costs, said Beijing-based CGS International Securities Group.
Among Southeast Asian banks, DBS had the largest wealth management fee income contribution to its total non-interest income, at 57.5% in 2025. Thailand’s big four banks generated 13-19% of their non-interest income from wealth management last year.
“Thailand had low interest rates in 2025, which forced banks to search for sources of non-interest income,” said Weerapat Wonk-Urai, a bank analyst at CGS.
The brokerage expects wealth management to be the main driver for banks’ non-interest income growth for 2026-2028, he said.
Based on a study of the Bank of Thailand’s deposit data, there were 517,674 wealth management customers, and total investable assets in individual savings and fixed deposits tallied 1.02 trillion baht as of the fourth quarter of 2025.
Mass affluent customers with a deposit size of 1-10 million baht formed 34.4% of total investable assets, and wealthy customers with a deposit size of more than 100 million baht formed 36.5% of total investable assets.
Boston Consulting Group’s Global Wealth Market survey indicates global net financial wealth will have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% during 2024-29. Asia-Pacific net financial wealth is estimated to reach a 6% CAGR during the period, the highest growth rate by region, according to CGS.
The brokerage views Kasikornbank and Siam Commercial Bank as the best-positioned for wealth management services because they have digital platforms, customer segmentation and hyper-personalisation using technology for the mass affluent segment.
“While large commercial banks benefit from their large deposit bases and strong retail banking franchises, some small banks have established niche wealth management positionings by tapping into wealth management clients,” said Mr Weerapat.
Jesada Techahusdin, analyst for banking and finance at Maybank Securities Thailand, said Thai banks have high loss-absorption capacity with huge reserves and capital levels, but “strategies to capture growth opportunities remain unclear”.
“We see all banks improving their internal efficiency and asset quality while bracing for external shocks from Middle East instability,” he said.
Before the Middle East war, banks were expected to grow their loan portfolios. But Maybank now expects banks to tighten loan criteria amid macro uncertainty, said Mr Jesada.
