THEY have been portrayed as the bad and the greedy, the unscrupulous face of the Minibonds crash that caused 10,000 retail investors here up to $500 million in losses.

They are called relationship or wealth managers. Now they are also called many other names, most of which are too rude to print.

Their accusers: Outraged clients who invested in structured products linked to the bankrupt Lehman Brothers Bank.

Wealth managers are deceitful, say retail investors. Incompetent. Exploitative. Greedy.

Even the banks, their own employers, have started investigations against them.

What is their side of the story? Are they indeed the callous villains they've been made out to be, or scapegoats of their employers?

For certain, they are the bitter flavour of the month.

Roy, a 28-year-old wealth manager at DBS, tells of a recent meeting where they were told that one of their wealth managers had received a threat from a client.

'They didn't share the details, but it was serious enough for the bank to tell us that any such threats should be reported to them and they will take the necessary action,' said Roy.

The crisis has brought out the worst in many clients, said the managers. There are many who are taking advantage of the situation by complaining and feigning ignorance.

'Many people feel that if they complain, they will get something in return, somehow,' said Jason, a 35-year-old wealth manager.

'But if they don't complain they won't get anything. So they just complain.

'Even educated people are doing this. It's surprising.'

Investors in products such as Lehman Minibonds and DBS High Notes 5 enjoyed regular interest payouts on their investments, some every quarter.

But now, they have been told to brace themselves for the loss of most of their principle investments.

And when the darts started flying, the target board was hung on the wealth managers. Clients claim they were persuaded by wealth managers into buying the products without being fully informed of the risks involved.

'These people... when they make money, they know a lot,' said Roy. 'When they lose money, suddenly, they do not know a single thing.

Caught in the middle

'I feel caught in the middle. Our job is to help clients make money. When we do, nobody says anything. But when we lose money, everyone pounces on us.

'It's a thankless job. I think any normal person in our position would feel the same way.'

Sharon, a 28-year-old relationship manager, finds it unfair too.

'You cannot just blame the wealth managers without looking at the banks. It's the banks which train them and it's their products the wealth managers are selling.'

But wealth managers are easy targets, Roy said, because they are the clients' first point of contact.

'For my clients, I am DBS. So (if there's) anything they are unhappy (about) with DBS, even if they lose their ATM card, they would come to me,' said Roy.

'And it'll be my fault.'

But with heart-rending stories of retirees losing their life savings making the rounds, do they feel some guilt? Or even bear some responsibility?

Said Jason: 'I don't feel guilty or regretful because nobody could have predicted all this would happen. I just feel pity for the clients.'

He is being bombarded almost daily by irate clients. And his own job is at stake now, because he is under investigation by his bank for the Lehman Brothers Minibonds he sold to clients.

His present salary is now half of the $4,500 he used to earn. His wife, who works as a human resource executive, and their two kids, aged 6 and 8, no longer go out as much as they used to, said Jason.

'You know, everybody is affected by this,' he said. 'Even your bank deposits are not safe.'

(Yesterday, the Government announced that it will guarantee all Singapore bank deposits. See Page 6)

Much of the sense of injustice stems from a perception that wealth managers profited unfairly from the selling of dubious products.

Miss Yip, a 29-year-old relationship manager, admits that it's hard to know where to draw the line.

'You have to learn to put the customer's needs before yours. But it's hard to strike a balance, especially for young and inexperienced wealth managers, because the pressure, from the ranking and quotas within the company, can be quite big,' she said.

'Sometimes, it's also because they don't know the products well so they don't know which ones will suit the clients best. So they just push the most popular products.'

How does she strike a balance?

'We tell clients the cons. But we'll overweigh the pros,' admitted Miss Yip. 'You have to be ethical, but it's also business.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on October 17, 2008.