BNP Paribas on Friday (March 21) launched its onshore wealth management presence in Thailand through BNP Paribas Securities (Thailand) Limited.

The bank plans to triple the number of relationship managers in the country as well as their clients’ assets over the next three years.

Arnaud Tellier, Asia chief executive officer of BNP Paribas Wealth Management, notes that the bank has been operating in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy over the past 45 years, and is currently serving more than 500 corporates and institutions in the market.

“Our wealth management team is leveraging this established presence and collaborating with our corporate and institutional bank to offer tailored and innovative solutions to even better address the increasingly sophisticated business and private wealth needs," Tellier says.

BNP Paribas Securities Thailand is operating under a model that combines onshore client engagement with offshore account management. This model offers Thai clients access to BNP Paribas’ comprehensive platform based in Singapore while ensuring close interaction with their relationship managers, the bank says.

The bank’s wealth management team provides a range of solutions including traditional asset management, wealth planning, advisory services, brokerage services, and access to investment opportunities in a broad range of asset classes such as equities, fixed income, hedge funds, and structured products.

According to Forbes, the combined wealth of Thailand’s 50 richest increased by nearly 15% to US$173 billion in 2023 despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. The latest Hurun Global Rich List, published in March 2023, identified Thailand as the billionaire capital of Southeast Asia, with 46 billionaires (each worth at least US$1 billion) in 2022, ranking it 11th in the world.

This rising wealth is driving greater demand for sophisticated wealth planning, international investment, and family governance services, the bank says.