DBS to target family businesses By Rachel Kelly | Posted: 15 June 2011 2311 hrs SINGAPORE : Singapore’s DBS Group is looking to branch out into a new market – family business. The bank said that roughly 80 per cent of businesses in Asia are controlled by families – and this is a largely untapped market. According to the bank, family businesses have seen stronger cash flows and juicier balance sheets, and as businesses grow many are looking at alternative forms of fund raising. These could be in the form of listings in Singapore and other regional markets. Terry Farris, head of family office, Private Bank, DBS, said: “It has allowed them to go from being in one country to being in multiple countries. “It has also attracted the second and third generation who traditionally say they are not interested in the family business, to say ‘hey I should be back in the family business’.” As Asia grows, DBS said, so will family businesses, and in Singapore there are great opportunities because of the cluster of wealth situated here. Mr Farris said: “What we are looking at is … how do we tap into our existing relationships of families and how do we help them go to the next level. “I would think that the number is quite large, we are just at the very beginning. I would think that this would be a large piece of the whole wealth continuum that DBS wealth management is putting together … “Over the next 10 to 15 years, I would say that it will play for what I call the ‘key client …

Tags: 2011, businesses, Family, target