Mr Wilson He’s experience with online trading platforms will help to drive the brokerage’s digital transformation

Singapore, 15 November 2020 – OCBC Bank announced the appointment of Mr Wilson He (何绍勤) as Managing Director of its wholly owned stockbroking subsidiary, OCBC Securities Pte Ltd, on 15 April 2020.

 Mr He joined during Singapore’s Circuit Breaker period when the company was dealing with the changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. His extensive digital experience in online trading helped the firm to quickly leverage the digital platform which saw the growth of OCBC Securities’ online trading surge from 50% of total trade transactions in 2019 to more than 70% in 2020 so far. He was able to harness the power of digital to spur the growth of OCBC Securities’ trading volume by 80% since the Covid-19 outbreak, indicating a rekindling of latent interest in investors.

At the same time, a “new normal” of working from home and increased safe-distancing measures have underscored the need for our securities platforms to be easily accessible online or on mobile. There has been an increase in customers trading online during these times – trade volume saw an increase of almost 60% in the first half of this year compared to the second half of last year.

Mr He, 41, brings with him more than 18 years’ of experience in the financial services industry, especially in the area of digitalising securities trading. His last role was as the Regional Head of Online Trading at CGS-CIMB Securities, where he was also responsible for the retail broking business in Singapore. He also led a task force to further strengthen the collaboration between CGS-CIMB Group and China Galaxy Securities, one of China’s largest brokerages.

Mr He also worked at Phillip Capital Group for seven years, where his last position was as the Head of E-Business for Phillip Securities, spearheading the brokerage’s retail online trading platform. Mr He began his career at Deloitte & Touche as an auditor. He is a Chartered Accountant in Singapore and also Fellow Member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountant, UK.

One of Mr He’s key initiatives is strengthening OCBC Securities’ digital capabilities. The surge in online trading during the Circuit Breaker period looks to be a trend that will continue its upwards momentum, especially as customers become more accustomed to the conveniences of self-directed online trading. OCBC Securities has increased its investment into digital capabilities by more than 50% for 2021 and a key focus is to upgrade the existing digital trading platform, iOCBC.

Next year, the iOCBC will be integrated with OCBC Bank’s retail banking platform as part of its continuing efforts to improve its digital offerings to customers. The new online platform will feature an improved digital customer experience with a streamlined order placement process that reduces the time needed for customers to make an order by half. The search function will also be optimised with an auto-complete predictive feature and can cater to additional search parameters, such as product codes.

OCBC Securities will also go more global and offer customers more insights and accessibility to global stock exchanges. In 2010, only 11% of OCBC Securities’ brokerage came from trading in global stock exchanges. From the first nine months of this year alone, more than 40% of its brokerage is from global stock exchanges. Boosted by a stronger digital infrastructure, customers will be able to better trade in overseas exchanges.

Mr He reports to OCBC Bank’s Deputy President Ching Wei Hong  (金偉雄), the Head of Global Wealth Management and Consumer Banking, who is also the Chairman of OCBC Securities.

Mr Ching said: “Wilson’s strength in the digital sphere is a valuable asset as OCBC Securities ramps up its digital transformation efforts. The pandemic has underscored the need for our securities platforms to be easily accessible online or on mobile. In the past few months, we saw a marked increase in people trading online. It is therefore critical for us to continually improve our digital offerings.”

“Since Wilson joined us in April, his experience and insights have helped to shape the strategic direction of OCBC Securities as the brokerage business transforms globally with digitalisation. I am confident that Wilson will drive innovation in our digital channels, creating better platforms and experiences for our customers, as well as capture a larger market share.”

OCBC Securities has been consistently ranked among the top brokerages in Singapore. In 2019, it was named Best Retail Broker at the Singapore Investors’ Choice Awards, for the quality of service and information it provided to retail investors to invest wisely. It has also been consistently listed as a Top Asean SGX-ST Member by the Singapore Exchange.