A fifth of this year’s participants join from Indonesia for the first time, leveraging OCBC’s One Group strategy across its core markets

Singapore, 14 July 2025 – As succession planning and entrepreneurship become top priorities for affluent families across Southeast Asia, OCBC has enhanced its invite-only GENesis programme to better prepare the next generation of high-net-worth clients for business leadership. The second edition of the programme reflects a sharper entrepreneurial focus and wider regional inclusion, with children of customers from OCBC Indonesia joining for the first time.

With nearly 40% of OCBC Premier Private Client (PPC) customers – OCBC’s high-net-worth segment – being business owners, OCBC GENesis has been enhanced to equip children of select PPC customers with the mindset, tools and networks to lead family enterprises or build their own ventures. This year’s programme featured three sessions with business leaders, up from two last year, offering participants candid insights into scaling businesses, navigating industry disruption and managing legacy transitions.

Among the speakers was Mr Lim Chun Seng, second-generation leader of MoneyMax Group, who shared his 20-year vision of transforming his family’s traditional pawnshop business into a multi-segmented consumer financial services provider, beginning with the expansion of the business into Malaysia.  Chef-owner Dave Pynt of Michelin-starred Burnt Ends also led a taste-and-share session, reflecting on the operational and cultural challenges of scaling a hospitality brand across Singapore, Indonesia, and the Maldives. Winnie Chan and James Quan of leather and stationery brand Bynd Artisan shared how strategic brand positioning and being in the right place at the right time can elevate a niche craft business into a luxury label.

Bringing together ASEAN high-net-worth customers in Singapore

Held from 9 to 11 July in Singapore, the programme brought together 21 participants aged 18 to 25, most of whom are students, with a pair of siblings already working in their family business. Beyond entrepreneurship, sessions covered personal profiling, investing, legacy planning, and design thinking. Participants also visited Samsung’s Business Experience Studio to explore innovation in consumer technology.

The decision to continue holding the event in Singapore reflects the city’s status as an international financial hub and a launchpad for businesses’ regional expansion. To deepen participants’ learning, OCBC has also curated a series of ‘alumni’ events over the next year to strengthen peer networks and encouraging sharing between OCBC GENesis cohorts.

Indonesian participant Cathelia Elisabeth, 24, found the programme valuable for both her roles – a research and development manager in her father’s food extract business and the co-founder of an animation company: “Continuing a business and starting one from scratch require completely different set of skills.  One involves evolving something already established, while the other is entirely new and still a learning process. The workshops helped me identify areas I need to improve, and I found the experiences shared by fellow entrepreneurs truly inspiring.”

Tan Yong Long, 25, a full stack engineer, also found OCBC GENesis beneficial. “Whatever my career path, whether I join my father’s company or pursue something on my own, it’s always helpful to connect with people from diverse backgrounds. They can offer insights, help tackle challenges or fill knowledge gaps. I’m glad I made some friends through this,” he said.

Said Mr Sunny Quek, Head of Global Consumer Financial Services, OCBC: “The intergenerational wealth transfer is a megatrend that many of our high-net-worth customers in the region are navigating. One of the ways that we support them is OCBC GENesis, our next-gen programme that is into its second run this year. Given that many of our high-net-worth customers have built their wealth through entrepreneurship, we augmented this aspect of the programme. We made a concerted effort to invite business owners from different backgrounds and industries, to share their experiences with participants. At the same time, we retained the core of the programme – rigorous wealth management workshops, and ample opportunities for the cohort to network and build lasting relationships.

OCBC GENesis is part of our long-term strategy to engage the children of our high-net-worth customers – who may not be OCBC customers yet – while deepening our relationship with their parents. This approach will strengthen our franchise for the future and reinforce our standing as a leading wealth management player in the region.”

Appendix

OCBC PPC was launched to serve the needs of high-net-worth-individuals, similar to a private banking model, in 2018.

OCBC PPC Singapore
OCBC PPC Singapore customers must be qualified as accredited investors and have at least S$1.5 million Assets Under Management.

OCBC PPC Malaysia
OCBC PPC Malaysia customers must have Assets Under Management of at least RM3 million.