[SINGAPORE] OCBC has launched a generative artificial intelligence-powered training programme for its 900 wealth advisers in Singapore, shifting away from a model that relied exclusively on in-person supervision, it announced on Wednesday (Apr 15).

The six-month initiative was developed over a year using large language models and proprietary customer data, and deploys GenAI to coach wealth advisers on competencies including investment advisory, client management, product mastery and wealth planning.

Before this roll-out, wealth advisory training was conducted one-on-one by supervisors.

“Wealth advisers can take up to three weeks to secure a training session with their supervisors who typically have to coach up to 10 staff. This is in addition to having other responsibilities, resulting in inconsistent evaluation standards and feedback quality across different supervisors,” OCBC said.

The programme uses the bank’s anonymised proprietary insights on customer behaviours to generate realistic training scenarios.

“These include helping a customer to create an investment portfolio to address their long-term needs, identifying a customer’s risk profile, selling more sophisticated financial products or adjusting investment strategies in line with market movements,” the lender added.

“During each training session, the programme – available to wealth advisers on their work devices – dynamically adapts its responses based on what is said, engaging naturally as a customer would in a real-life setting.”

Following AI sessions, supervisors receive automated reports detailing an adviser’s specific competency gaps, allowing for more targeted in-person follow-ups.

Performance and expansion

Initial data from the first three months of implementation indicates that advisers using the programme secured double the number of weekly client appointments compared with those who had not yet undergone the training, OCBC said.

SEE ALSO

OCBC ups ante on SME sustainability with S$25 billion financing target

OCBC sees upside in SGX small and mid-caps on Singapore growth tailwinds despite Middle East tensions

Additionally, this group recorded a 50 per cent increase in revenue over the three months preceding the programme.

The bank said that it plans to localise and export the training platform to its markets in Malaysia and Hong Kong at a later stage.

Content in these regions will be adjusted to reflect local products, regulatory requirements and customer behaviours.

The programme covers advisers across three retail segments: personal banking, premier banking and private premier client.

[SINGAPORE] Singapore’s premier financial daily, The Business Times, is marking its 50th anniversary with a slate of initiatives spanning a major sports partnership, regional thought-leadership events and subscription promotions.

Since its founding on Oct 1, 1976, BT, which is owned by SPH Media, has covered Singapore’s corporate and financial landscape. The paper has chronicled major economic events from the Pan-El crisis and the Clob saga, to the fall of Barings, the Asian financial crisis, the dotcom crash, the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kick-starting the celebrations next week is the launch of golf’s Singapore Open, presented by The Business Times. This is the first time that a news title has established a branding tie-up of this scale with a major sporting event.

To be held at Sentosa Golf Club’s Serapong course from Apr 23 to 26, the national golf event is the second tournament on The International Series’ calendar and the fourth on the Asian Tour schedule.

The partnership aligns with BT’s goal to grow its readership across Asia and beyond, and to bring Singapore perspectives to the rest of the world.

“Just as a champion golfer navigates the course with calculated risk and unwavering focus, the businesses we celebrate – and the readers we serve – drive Singapore’s progress with that same spirit of agility and enterprise,” said The Business Times editor Chen Huifen. 

Teeing off with the Singapore Open

As part of the marquee celebration, subscribers who sign up for a two-year All-Digital News Subscription with BT will receive two complimentary tickets to the tournament’s premium hospitality suites. Those interested can go to sph.sg/sgopen.

Going global – and multilingual

BT is also broadening its international footprint in two notable ways. A new AI-curated tool now allows readers to access the publication’s original reporting in Simplified Chinese through a dedicated landing page on the BT website. The move is aimed at making its content more accessible to Chinese-speaking markets.

BT will also be available via smart TVs in selected properties across five major hospitality groups – The Ascott, Frasers Property, Frasers Hospitality, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, and Pan Pacific Hotels Group – catering to the travelling business professional, a core segment of its readership.

SEE ALSO

Golf’s Singapore Open returns with The Business Times as new presenting partner

The Business Times Global seeks to tell South-east Asia’s growth story through a regional lens

Taking the conversation regional

Beyond Singapore, BT is organising a series of overseas events in partnership with regional players. These include Sustainability Dialogues in Thailand and Malaysia focused on green transitions and corporate sustainability practices, as well as an Asia-focused economic summit to be hosted in Jakarta, bringing together industry leaders to discuss the region’s economic trajectory.

A gala and a legacy editorial series

To visually anchor the celebrations, BT has unveiled a bespoke BT50 logo, which will feature across its print, digital and app platforms through the end of the year.

The jubilee will also be marked by a special editorial project profiling companies and organisations that have forward-looking visions aligned with Singapore’s economic transition. The project is set to culminate in a BT50 Gala Dinner on Oct 1, where business leaders, partners, and stakeholders will gather to mark the occasion.

In January, BT launched BT Global, a new initiative dedicated to covering international and regional business developments through a South-east Asian lens.

THERE has been much news on the number of companies delisting from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) recently. This is unsurprising, given the resources that a publicly listed company (listco) needs to maintain its status.

On the other hand, the potential benefits of public listing – including access to additional sources of capital – continue to capture interest. Coupled with the S$30 million Value Unlock Programme that SGX launched in November 2025, companies may be keen on reviewing their investability plans.

However, while these are welcome interventions, programmes and grants cannot substitute for the fundamental work that boards themselves must do.

Value creation and valuation gaps

Value is best understood as the intrinsic worth of a company based on its ability to generate future cash flows. Value creation is hence the process of inventing something that influences the intrinsic worth of a business’ assets to generate cash flow.

Importantly, value creation should benefit all stakeholders. It is therefore important for companies, particularly listcos, to understand how to create and sustain value.

For listcos, a valuation gap arises when share prices are not reflective of their economic value.

Such a disconnect is often caused by information asymmetry. The valuation gap is therefore a communication problem as much as it is a financial one.

To address a valuation gap, boards must understand that their investors value companies through the following lens:

• Economic: Investors favour firms that signal quality through credible leadership, robust capabilities, strong governance and consistent performance.
• Social: Investors value legitimacy arising from reputable partners, intermediaries and regulators.
• Cognitive: Investors favour companies that are easy to understand.

When listcos account for these valuation dimensions, they narrow the valuation gap and reap substantial benefits. SGX’s Value Unlock Programme is, hence, timely.

SEE ALSO

Listed companies have to walk the talk for SGX’s Value Unlock programme to succeed

How the Value Unlock push will lift the market

MAS weighs changes to corporate governance code for boards’ roles, will monitor Value Unlock programme outcomes

A fair valuation allows for refreshing shareholder base and reduces the cost of capital. Both can fuel the company’s growth and grant greater expansionary flexibility.

Benefits may also extend internally. Employee morale can improve when the company’s value proposition fosters purpose.

The importance of a strategic plan

At the heart of unlocking value lies an evidence-based strategy that details the company’s position, and encompasses innovation, differentiation and scaling. Such a strategy must be defensible in order to provide comfort to investors.

A robust strategy is propped by four pillars.

• In terms of market leadership, opportunities that can be captured due to the listco’s strengths should be identified.
• Operational efficiency zooms in on systems that allow productivity and quality.
• In leadership and management, the fit of composition and competencies is evaluated.
• Finally, financials link strategic choices to outcomes, show risks and evaluate resource allocation.

Companies with strategic clarity command stronger valuations because clarity reduces uncertainty, and markets price uncertainty harshly.

Sheng Siong Group, for instance, has a clear strategic position, which is operationalised through its focus on direct sourcing, cost discipline and a principled approach to expansion. Its clear strategy has translated into above-average returns on equity, demonstrating that even within a competitive sector, strategic clarity can be a driver of sustainable value.

Structural strength

A solid strategy alone is insufficient; companies must be structured to execute plans well.

Operational structure must support efficiency, quality, and scalability.

Capital structure must reflect discipline. Excess cash may signal a lack of innovation, while strategic capital deployment signals seriousness in value creation.

Lastly, inorganic growth must be pursued selectively.

Mergers and acquisitions can create value only when strategically justified and financially disciplined.

Board oversight

While management creates value through execution, boards ensure that the strategy serves the best interests of the company.

Such a fiduciary role is conducted through regular strategy reviews, performance evaluation, and holding executives accountable for results.

Whether a board creates value is contingent on its composition. Investors place greater trust in boards whose composition is aligned with the company’s strategy. This is because the board ultimately shapes the decisions that investors price into the company.

Governance as a value multiplier

Investors assess governance quality before committing capital. They look for effective boards, alignment of executives to long-term performance, and transparent disclosure.

The Singapore Code of Corporate Governance sets the bar. But companies with premium valuations build well above it and translate governance into competitive advantage.

In Singapore, this is particularly important, given the prevalence of founder-led and/or family-influenced listcos. When this is done well, investors notice; when it is not, they discount accordingly.

Take the example of Hyphens Pharma International, a Catalist-listed speciality pharmaceutical company, which was recognised with the Gold Award for Best Managed Board at the Singapore Corporate Awards 2024. The company takes care to build investor confidence through a clearly articulated dividend policy and a well-governed board.

Market communication and investor engagement

Ultimately, valuation can still fall flat if a company fails to tell its story well.

Investor relations is therefore a strategic capability. Companies that engage investors consistently, offering a credible narrative and reasonable guidance, tend to enjoy stronger valuations.

Micro-Mechanics, a manufacturer of high-precision consumable tools for the semiconductor industry, is exemplary. When the global semiconductor industry contracted sharply from 2022, its management disclosed segment-level declines and communicated a plan to restore profitability.

The company’s commitment to substantive shareholder communication earned it illustrious awards and helped it retain its top 30 position in the Singapore Governance and Transparency Index for the 10th consecutive year in 2025.

Taken together, strategy and structure create value and governance sustains and multiplies it.

Yet for listcos, creating value – which drives growth – is only part of the task. That value must also be recognised by the market. Transparent engagement with investors enables companies to achieve this.

The writers are partners at JP Wilson, a growth strategy advisory for South-east Asian growth enterprises