By Smita Krishnaswamy

STANDARD Chartered plans to hire an additional 300 relationship managers here over the next three years as it expands its priority banking unit.

The bank, which has weathered the financial crisis far better than many of its rivals, has already hired 80 relationship managers this year to bring its strength to around 200 in its priority banking business.

Priority banking caters to individuals who have a net worth of more than $200,000 although StanChart, which launched its programme in the early 90s, also serves people on a monthly income of more than $16,000.

Relationship managers can be fresh graduates or seasoned professionals from other industries. They undergo six weeks of in-class training at StanChart and two weeks of on-the-job learning.

They must also complete at least 300 hours of continuous professional development in a year.

StanChart is launching a revamped priority banking programme in several countries across Asia, including India, China and the United Arab Emirates to better serve the affluent market across international borders.

Singapore's affluent population is expected to grow by 25 per cent by 2012, to reach 500,000. The country also attracts 86 per cent of its funds under management from overseas, putting it in a good position to capture pan-Asian growth in the competitive market for priority banking services.

Ms Foo Mee Har, the bank's global head for premium banking, told a briefing yesterday that the segment has huge growth potential with Asia tipped to be the fastest growing zone in the world.

The affluent segment in Asia ex-Japan grew at about 16 per cent from 2003 to 2008, and is now expanding at about 12 per cent a year, around three times the rate in Europe and North America.

The segment in Asia is expected to include 22 million individuals holding liquid assets of US$14 trillion (S$20 trillion) by 2012, with 46 per cent of those comprising new entrants. These individuals tend to have fragmented banking relationships and are looking to consolidate them, Ms Foo said.

StanChart said it has not made drastic changes to its training and compensation structure for relationship managers given the recent Lehman Brothers structured products fiasco.

But it stressed that it continuously enhances programmes to include hands-on training and real-life simulations.

Ms Ngo Min Ying, the bank's general manager of premium banking in Singapore and Malaysia, added that StanChart adopts a balanced scorecard approach to evaluate performance and set remuneration. It is an approach that considers more than just sales performance.

StanChart has navigated the economic crisis significantly better than many of its rivals.

Its strong focus on Asia shielded it from much of the financial mayhem and meltdown in Europe and the United States, and helped it record profits of US$4.8 billion last year, up 19 per cent from 2007.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.