Cover Carol Wu of DBS Bank addressing the crowd at a DBS Culinary Delights event
(Photo: Patrick Leung/Tatler Hong Kong)
Carol Wu of DBS Bank addressing the crowd at a DBS Culinary Delights event (Photo: Patrick Leung/Tatler Hong Kong)
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Private banking often conjures images of sterile boardrooms and endless spreadsheets, but DBS Bank is flipping that stuffy script upside down. For the bank’s Carol Wu, the future of wealth management is as much about curating experiences as it is about crunching numbers
During Art Week in March, Hong Kong’s gourmands descended on Club Bâtard for ARTable, a one-of- a-kind soirée presented by DBS and Tatler that blurred the lines between gastronomy and art. The VIP affair featured chef Edward Lee, star of the hit South Korean cooking show Culinary Class Wars.
ARTable was the inaugural signature event under DBS Culinary Delights, a new customer engagement initiative by the bank celebrating the art of gastronomy by introducing the city’s best dining experiences to its clientele. The celebrations didn’t stop there; in the same week, DBS also invited the chef to appear in an exclusive fireside chat at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, where he shared his journey in writing his 2024 book, Bourbon Land: A Spirited Love Letter to My Old Kentucky Whiskey, with 50 Recipes—a deep dive of how he fell in love with Kentucky after moving from New York, where he was born, and the creative process behind his food.
Read now: Edward Lee on ‘Culinary Class Wars’, his struggle with identity and the future of innovation
Above Carol Wu (Photo: Wilfred Au/Tatler Hong Kong)
Carol Wu (Photo: Wilfred Au/Tatler Hong Kong)
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Celebrity chefs and tales of a passion for bourbon might raise eyebrows in the buttoned-up world of private banking, but for Carol Wu, managing director and head of private banking for North Asia at DBS Bank, Hong Kong, these cultural affairs represent banking’s more human side—one where relationships flourish beyond balance sheets.
“When I interact with my clients, I would say 70 to 80 per cent of the conversations are not about investments or wealth planning,” says Wu. Instead, these discussions centre around the clients’ life experiences, like “where they travel, which restaurants they go to, what sports events, concerts they attend or what art they collect”. And so the bank has a multifaceted engagement strategy with an impressive calendar of exclusive events: for example, meet-and-greets with the former England national team striker Michael Owen and former Nasa astronauts.
Above Photo: Wilfred Au/Tatler Hong Kong
Photo: Wilfred Au/Tatler Hong Kong
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With deep roots in both finance and hospitality—her family operates restaurant businesses in her native Taiwan—Wu brings a unique perspective to client relationships that stretches far beyond traditional banking services. The approach is very much in line with DBS’s philosophy, “bank less and live more”. For her, banking isn’t just about managing wealth—it’s also about understanding the people behind the portfolios. Different clients have different needs based on their personalities, preferences and stages of life, she explains. Those who have been building wealth for longer periods want to preserve their wealth, while the younger generations are geared towards what Wu describes as more aggressive investment options, such as crypto.
“If we just talk about bonds, equities, funds, I don’t think any client would want to talk to us,” Wu says. “We are bringing a lot of new angles in terms of investments, wealth planning and how to invest in alternative products.” There was a lot of interest from private banking clients in investing in famous European and American sports teams, for instance. The sports investment index has been growing at approximately 20 per cent over the past decade, she says.
Wu’s playbook isn’t just about glitzy events and alternative investments, however. When the champagne glasses are cleared and the celebrities have departed, there’s something more substantial underpinning her approach. Asked about what sets DBS apart in a sea of private banking options, Wu doesn’t hesitate: “We are the safest bank in Asia.” It is an accolade the bank has been honoured with for the last 16 consecutive years by the New York-based trade publication Global Finance, as of October 2024. In an era when banking institutions can collapse overnight, safety has become the ultimate luxury.
Safety might be the foundation, but Wu has built a veritable mansion on top of it. DBS crafts something for its clients close to bespoke tailoring. The bank’s relationship managers are fluent in the language of corporate expansion and investment strategy—skills that resonate deeply with a clientele where 80 per cent are business owners.
“When we talk about their business, we know their funding needs and expansion needs,” Wu says. In the race for Asia’s exploding wealth, DBS appears to be drafting its own roadmap. Behind the banking strategy and growth figures lies a philosophy that feels refreshingly human. When asked to define luxury—something she helps clients acquire daily—Wu skips the expected talk of yachts and penthouses. It is something that’s high-quality and personalised, with exclusiveness and rare qualities,
she says. “If everyone can get it, it wouldn’t be luxury.”
Andrea Lo was the Executive Editor of Tatler Hong Kong and Editor of Tatler Macau.
Born in Canada and raised in Hong Kong and England, she started her career in journalism in 2012.
Follow her on Instagram @andreastephenielo.
