- 1 year ago
How does one of Southeast Asia’s biggest banks juggle national duty, shareholder expectations, and regional leadership? Maybank President and Group CEO Datuk Seri Khairussaleh Ramli gives an inside look.
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00:00This is Awani Review, I'm Cynthia Ng.
00:12Today we are inside Maybank, the Leish's largest bank
00:16and one of its biggest employers with nearly 44,000 people across the group.
00:22Now the bank is taking on big ambitions across ASEAN,
00:26leading in finance, sustainability and digital innovation, among others.
00:31And it's a real privilege to be here today at Maybank headquarters
00:34with the President and Group CEO of Maybank, Dato Sri Kairosale.
00:39Rami, thank you so much for being on the show and having us here at your office.
00:45Thanks for having me.
00:46As a CEO of such a large bank, you're balancing multiple responsibilities.
00:51You are taking on national priorities, shareholder expectations and also big ASEAN ambitions.
01:00So let's start with that.
01:01Talk to us about day-to-day, how does that look like for you as President and Group CEO of Maybank?
01:09We have presence in 18 countries and in ASEAN alone, we are present in all 10 countries.
01:15And obviously, things happen, right, in those countries respectively.
01:22And I think we do have to continuously think about, of course, to your point,
01:28you know, how to balance it between what we want to achieve from growth and performance.
01:34And then we are also big in sustainability.
01:38We are already saying that we want to be a leader in sustainability in this region.
01:42And at the same time, it's about the people that we have, right, almost 44,000.
01:49And in fact, you know, 40% of our people are outside of Malaysia, right?
01:53And then we take a step back and look forward in terms of what ASEAN then promises for us, right?
02:03And I think that there are three key drivers for that.
02:08And because of those three things, I personally am quite excited in terms of what ASEAN can offer.
02:14The first one is about the trade.
02:16We know that with all these things, geopolitical things that are happening around the world,
02:23intra-ASEAN trade will go up.
02:25It's already 23% of total ASEAN trade.
02:29But we believe that the number will go up.
02:31So how then, as Maybank, being present in all 10 ASEAN countries,
02:36you know, grow with that kind of growth in trade as well?
02:40The other perspective is investment.
02:42And when we look at FDI in the world, right, 16% of FDI is into ASEAN.
02:51And when we look at the GDP growth of ASEAN countries,
02:56we know in the next five years, ASEAN will be the fastest growing economy as a group in the next five years.
03:04And the other bit that we are quite excited about is the population of ASEAN.
03:10We have close to 680 million people in ASEAN.
03:14And the middle income population is also increasing.
03:18And that, again, presents a potential for us to be able to grow wealth segment in the dual segment.
03:27So we are perhaps lucky, maybe, that we are in all 10 ASEAN countries.
03:32But now we need to think about how we can, I guess, take advantage of that presence to be able to, you know, contribute more to ASEAN and do more business amongst ASEAN companies.
03:43And where are these areas do you see most opportunities?
03:46And where also are areas that you think that you will need to work with a partner?
03:50You know, we can't work a lot, right?
03:52So you talk about the big infrastructure projects.
03:56Whilst we are big, we are not that big to support some of these large projects.
04:01So obviously we have to work with other banks in this region.
04:05Banks that share the same aspiration with us.
04:08Not just from lending to a customer, but more and more that sustainability journey as well.
04:15So, you know, we have actually started one financing as a consortium in Singapore, looking at a project that will transition into hydrogen in the future.
04:29Right.
04:29So obviously that's a large project.
04:32It is going to be a sustainability-linked project.
04:35In fact, a transition finance project.
04:37And because it's large, we have to work with other banks in this region, as I said, that shares the same principles as well.
04:43So when we talk about maybe the wealth business, right?
04:51And this is again something that we want to grow in ASEAN.
04:54So obviously you have to think about end-to-end solutions for the customers.
05:00Because more and more we believe that we have to work with other people that can complete the journey of a customer.
05:08And many of these journeys are actually beyond banking, right?
05:12And hence, you know, digitalization then comes into play.
05:16API comes into play.
05:18And of course, choosing the right partners that can complete the ecosystem for the journeys of the customer will also be important, right?
05:26Yeah.
05:26So that's an example of how we probably need to work with other partners.
05:30So if you look at ASEAN, on paper it looks great, right?
05:33But in reality it's complex because there's a matter of integration, sovereignty, political considerations as well.
05:40So where do you see could be some of the biggest friction points for you from your vantage point navigating all these things?
05:47Well, sovereignty is there and we have to respect that.
05:53And we have to work within those boundaries, right?
05:57And obviously, you know, it's about engaging regulator, engaging government, etc.
06:05We are also local in many of these countries.
06:08That means that, you know, we have got a good relationship with these countries.
06:15The requirements for regulatory needs also will be different.
06:19In fact, are different.
06:20So I think it's just a matter of having to adapt to those things to be able to do the business and respect the rule of the land, right?
06:28I think one other thing that, again, that can relate to that as well is on the halal side.
06:34So, for example, Malaysia may have a different definition of halal compared to, say, Indonesia, right?
06:41But we are not saying that in Indonesia you must change your halal definition, right?
06:44We have to adapt to that and respect their definition of that and then do business according to the framework of the respective countries.
06:54So within ASEAN, where do you see, you mentioned trade, investment and people.
06:58But if I can hone further into that, areas that particularly look exciting to you.
07:03Well, I am particularly excited with the Johor-Singapore economic, special economic zone.
07:09Not just because I'm a Johorian, but simply because I think it's complementarity, right?
07:18There's a complementarity between Johor and Singapore.
07:22It's not competing.
07:24So the JS has exact area in Johor alone is around five times the size of Singapore.
07:31So land alone, you know, is what Johor can offer to Singapore that Singapore is running out of.
07:37And then you also look at the other resources, right?
07:42Power and water resources.
07:45So those are natural.
07:46So and for us, we are present in Singapore.
07:53Almost one quarter of our assets now in Singapore.
07:57And we are also big in Johor.
07:59We have got more than 70 footprints in Johor, Loonan branches, etc.
08:03And then how do we then link our offerings, right, for customers, not just the corporate side,
08:10but also the individual side, you know, moving or crossing the crossway from Singapore to Johor
08:17to do what they need to do.
08:18We have started a few things.
08:21You know, I think data center, of course, is a big area of financing for us.
08:25But we will also announce a few other areas, right, such as hospitality, logistics, etc.,
08:32that we think will only grow.
08:35And I think once the infrastructure, the connectivity become more efficient,
08:41that region, I think, will grow.
08:44And we are looking forward to playing a bigger role in supporting the economic growth of the economic zone.
08:52That's all very, very exciting.
08:54And I think I just want to get a sense from where you sit, right?
08:57Because these projects, these cross-border collaboration projects, right,
09:05these are things that requires Maybank to step into commitments that stretch over decades.
09:10It's not just one or two years, right?
09:11So how do you balance that national priorities and big ambitions, regional ambitions?
09:18Well, as a CEO, right, I don't look at what we need to do just within my term.
09:26You know, we are all looking at, you know, for the longest time.
09:30You know, Maybank has been there for 65 years.
09:33And we want Maybank to be around for at least another 65 years.
09:36So we do think about long term, supporting the economic priorities of the various governments,
09:44obviously, Malaysia in particular.
09:47And then see how, end of the day, we can support the clients and the customers that we have, right?
09:55There will be things that we can do immediately.
09:57But there are also things that we need to plant the seed for, right, over the long term.
10:04One of the areas that we think we have to plant the seed for in the immediate to long term
10:08will be IT infrastructure, for example, right?
10:11Because things are being done digitally, you know, everywhere.
10:16And if we don't keep up with the capabilities, but also thinking ahead,
10:20not just for customers to be able to transact now,
10:24but how can they do their job better by us being supporting,
10:30being able to support them in the next few years.
10:32That means that we have to keep enhancing our IT infrastructure as well.
10:36So, you know, I think it's the balance of all these things.
10:38I think that makes the job more exciting, right?
10:40At the end, and then on top of that, you still have to think about return on equity for our show.
10:44So, again, you know, that's the fun part of the job, I must say.
10:49Okay.
10:49So, plenty, plenty on your plate.
10:51But I do want to just hone in a bit more about integration, ASEAN integration.
10:55From your vantage point, just how integrated do you see ASEAN financial system?
11:00Do you see the need for something like what Europe has, for instance?
11:04Is that something that we should aspire to?
11:07Or do you think we should work towards a different model that works for ASEAN?
11:12I probably think about the latter, right?
11:15Because the stage of development of each ASEAN country is very different.
11:21To have a common, single currency, single economy, you know, is going to be tough.
11:28But I think this is where, in my view, because we have got 10 ASEAN countries and potentially another one coming, right?
11:37And make it 11.
11:38We may not be able to get all 10 to do everything at one go.
11:44But why don't we start with countries that are ready?
11:46You know, so maybe bilateral first, right?
11:50In terms of, I don't know, acknowledging certain rules and requirements bilaterally.
11:56I think if we start doing that more and more, end of the day, there will be, I guess, a natural way of harmonising things.
12:05But starting off with countries that are more ready than others first.
12:11Okay.
12:11Now, I want to move to a different topic because you mentioned these big projects.
12:15They are great and all, but you can't do that without the right people.
12:18So 44,000 people across the group.
12:21How do you prepare talent for not just Malaysian-scale ambitions, sorry, talking about ASEAN and even global?
12:28Getting people aligned, 44,000 aligned.
12:32Well, it is daunting.
12:34But that's the fun thing again about Maybank, right?
12:38You know, this 44,000 people, you know, I was in Maybank in the first round.
12:43I'm not sure you know that from 2008 to 2013.
12:49And I came back in 2022.
12:51And really one of the reasons I agreed to come back was for the people, right?
12:57I think Maybank has got people who are dedicated, who are committed, you know, to the cost.
13:03And people say if you cut their skin, it will be yellow blood, right?
13:07So I think Maybank has got that quality in terms of the ability of Maybankers to get things done, you know, in a coordinated manner.
13:20Now, the main thing now is to be able to make sure that we continue to skill them, right?
13:25Because things are changing fast.
13:28AI is coming in.
13:29How do we get our people to be trained and skilled to use the new technology to get things done again for the benefit of the customers?
13:41You know, I like to put this thing like we want to become a talent factory, right?
13:46Talent factory, and potentially not just for Maybank.
13:50Of course, priority if it's for Maybank.
13:52But why can't it be a talent factory for Malaysia, right?
13:57But selfishly, it has to be a talent factory for Maybank first.
14:00And that means that we need to start moving people around, right?
14:04The list of my next question.
14:05So, I mean, going back to this whole ASEAN integration, right?
14:09Do you foresee that, you know, we could see something like Europe where a banker that is from Kuala Lumpur can easily work in Manila or Jakarta or something like that?
14:17Why not, right?
14:18I think if you talk about goods, trade, and people, and talking about ASEAN integration, the people side probably is the easiest, right?
14:28Maybe there could be like a business passport, right?
14:32For people to be able to move around.
14:35As long as they maybe work in a particular organization that has been sanctioned by ASEAN, for example, right?
14:43You know, why can't, say, our chief risk officer sit in Singapore, right?
14:49Why can't, you know, our human capital chief maybe sit in Indonesia, for example, or come from Indonesia, for that matter, right?
14:56So, to me, that's part of the beauty of ASEAN.
15:00And as I said, I think we do have the raw material in Maybank, right?
15:0440% of our people are outside of Malaysia.
15:07You know, and of course, we have got two of our ex-school members from Singapore, one from Indonesia, yeah, things like that.
15:16We have people who, you know, our chief operations officer was a chief compliance officer.
15:25Our chief human capital officer used to be in audit, right?
15:29Our, you know, so we have rotated people as well.
15:33And we need to do more of this and to surface people that are able to then assume higher responsibility faster.
15:45So, yes, talent is a key thing for us.
15:48And I believe that, you know, in Maybank, the 44,000 people, we do have good people there that we just need to hold their skills on and see what they can, you know, do in the future.
16:00Skills is one part of it. Mindset.
16:02What mindset is needed for the next generation of Maybankers or talent in general?
16:08It's interesting. In fact, tonight we're going to spend one and a half hours talking about culture, right?
16:13And because in my view, culture is important to be able to get the various things that we want to do in a more coherent and efficient way.
16:25So, in my mind, you know, it's having a learning mindset, it's having a growth mindset, and of course, at the end of the day, it's having a performance-driven mindset.
16:36And we want to see how then we can inculcate this type of behaviour to be able to then, you know, galvanise the 44,000 Maybankers, right, to be behind us and supporting what we want to do.
16:51But obviously, let's start with leaders.
16:53And that's why tonight, the leaders under me will be spending one and a half hours just talking about culture on a Friday evening, the day before my birthday.
17:01Sure, they're looking forward to that.
17:03That's all very fascinating, but I want to turn my focus back on the business a bit, especially sustainable financing, because I know that it's central to Maybank.
17:11115 billion ringgit disperse so far in sustainable finance.
17:16That's impressive.
17:18From your vantage point, what real change have you seen on the ground?
17:22We always talk about three pillars in our sustainability principles, right?
17:27One is about, of course, doing the business itself, sustainable finance.
17:32Second, of course, it's about thought leadership, you know, because these are fairly new things.
17:39How can then we provide a platform for people to discuss things?
17:44And, of course, we can lead that, right, about sustainability.
17:47The third part is about walking the talk.
17:50Maybank has to walk the talk as well.
17:53So, I think, of course, financing comes naturally because that's our business.
17:59But if I look at the third pillar, for example, in terms of walking the talk, you know, we even have, what do you call it,
18:06certification of sustainability professionals within Maybank, for example, right?
18:13We call it different belts, right, black belt and white belt.
18:17Of course, belt belt is the most proficient set of people doing sustainability.
18:24We are not short of engaging with companies.
18:29We talk to our clients, right, about the journey.
18:30We are speakers in many forums, you know, just to talk about what we think about the sustainability emphasis.
18:40Now, apart from that, sustainability is not just about financing.
18:44Sustainability is not just about environment.
18:47Sustainability is also about, you know, just transition.
18:51That means that we also need to think about the social part as well.
18:54And that is a big agenda for us for many, many years already, very much aligned with our own purpose of humanizing financial services, right?
19:04So, we walk the talk, as I said.
19:06And it's actually part of our core value of doing business in terms of not just making money but making sure communities also progress.
19:14So, in my mind, I think the sustainability is just a natural thing that Maybank has been doing for many, many years.
19:23And that's part of our core value.
19:25And if you link sustainability with Islamic principles, value-based financial services, right, they are fairly much aligned.
19:34And if you look at Maybank doing Islamic business, we are number four in the world in Islamic banking.
19:43Our financial asset in Malaysia, 70% is already Islamic.
19:47So, in a way, you know, it kind of all align, the stars are aligned between sustainability, value-based, Islamic, and our own purpose of humanizing financial services.
19:57And all this, of course, impact the communities that you serve, right?
20:00So, Maybank, I think, close to 1 million SMEs.
20:03Yes.
20:04That you are serving across the region.
20:07So, when you look at where you're at, looking at helping SMEs, what is it beyond financing that SMEs need to thrive?
20:14And do you think bank could step in as well?
20:17Yeah, I think financing is one.
20:20And when even we talk about financing, SMEs are in different stages of development, of maturity.
20:32And as we look at the overall value chain, we want to see how we can help every part of the value chain of the SMEs, right?
20:44And the smaller ones, you know, I mean, I was just in the earlier meeting, earlier, before this interview, talking about how we can help the micro SMEs, right?
20:54And the micro SMEs, these are really startups in SMEs, they don't have track record, they don't have financial numbers.
21:01But how can we then seed these people using our own money, right?
21:08When I say own money, because we also have funds from charity, for example.
21:15So, I give you an example.
21:19For a certain, for every transaction on our Islamic card, we call a coin, a certain percentage is being channeled for charity purposes, right?
21:29So, then we are able to use that fund to be able to seed these really small SMEs, right, as a grant, as a grant first, and potentially later even financing.
21:43So, that's the really small one.
21:45Then, as we look at the bigger one, of course, you know, it's more about how do we make their business more efficient,
21:50so that they can focus on their core business of doing, you know, SME activities.
21:56And things like equipping them with payroll solution that is linked to our own cash management solution,
22:04linking their accounting system to our cash management.
22:07So, whenever there is a transaction on our cash management, the transactions are all being updated into their accounting already, right?
22:15And we also have a program called SME Hub, where there is an advisory platform online as well,
22:22just to be able to give them advice on how we can help them make their job, their business more efficient,
22:30help them in terms of transitioning, you know, and the sustainability journey, things like that.
22:35So, indeed, you know, I think we believe that we have to have a big focus on helping SME,
22:44given that it is the backbone of the economy, right?
22:4890%, more than 90% of institutions or companies doing in the economy is from the SME.
22:56And I know impact to you is not just about numbers, right?
23:00And it comes in other ways, for instance, community sports, of course, such as the Maybank Championship.
23:08So, this is important because it creates visibility and talent, right?
23:14But can you talk to us about what's the social impact and how does it fit into Maybank's broader ambitions?
23:20Maybank Championship, yeah.
23:22So, many, many years ago, we already started Maybank Championship, but that's for men.
23:27And then, I think we stopped that later, but we restarted Maybank Championship back in 2022, 23, for women, right?
23:41So, we actually deliberately chose women as a priority area in promoting sport through Maybank Championship,
23:51working with the best brand in the world, which is LPGA, right?
23:55So, why women, you know, again, it's part of our focus in terms of making, you know, empowering women, right?
24:05To be on their own, to be able to stand on their own going forward.
24:10And why golf?
24:12You know, because if you look at the top players in LPGA, many of them are from this part of the world, right?
24:19So, that's the affinity amongst the women in this part of the world, you know, to look up to those people that have done well in golf, right?
24:30That's one.
24:31And even when we do this championship, for example, we have a specific number of players that we purposely want to choose from this part of the world,
24:44to be able to take part in that program, right?
24:48And again, through this championship, players like Mirabel, for example, not many people knew her before Maybank Championship last year.
24:59And she was still an amateur.
25:02And since then, she has already turned a pro.
25:04And I can see if you go to KLGCC, right?
25:07You see her photo there already.
25:09And people talk about her because she's not just a golf player, but she embodies someone who has progressed, right?
25:18Maybe just from a simple golf player.
25:20Something you must be very proud of.
25:22I am proud of.
25:22In fact, I met her about two months ago during the Asia qualifying.
25:26And I recognized her, right?
25:28I went to her and said, you know, how are you, etc.
25:30And, you know, again, that kind of character is that whilst you are improving, they are still practicing, right?
25:37And they still want to make themselves better, right?
25:41So, I think to me, that's the kind of character if you can try to instill and embody amongst not just women in ASEAN, but everyone in ASEAN, right?
25:50It's about the growth mindset.
25:52It's about that learning mindset again.
25:54And it's about the performance mindset.
25:56And those are the three mindsets that I already said earlier as part of the things that we want to establish, even in Maybank Culture, for example, right?
26:03So, it's very much aligned, I guess, between what we're trying to do in sport through Maybank Championship and what we want to do for our people within Maybank.
26:10Okay.
26:11Well, just a final few minutes that I have with you.
26:13I do wonder when you look at Maybank and its ambitions, right?
26:16What keeps you most excited?
26:18And similarly, what keeps you up at night?
26:21What keeps me at night first, right?
26:27You know, sometimes, I always think, what more I can do to drive the performance of Maybank.
26:38But at the same time, you also go into the basic things, right?
26:42To make sure that, you know, the lights are on, the system is up, right?
26:47There's, you know, a branch opens on time, no issue, no problem, right?
26:52But sometimes, things happen.
26:54Things happen.
26:55And it's a matter of you ensuring that you've got the right people around you.
27:00You've got the right procedures and policies to be able to address any issue that arise.
27:07Because to be, to expect everything to be perfect is, you know, it's not realistic.
27:12Things will go wrong.
27:14The important thing is that how do you manage when things go wrong?
27:19You know, but my expectation, of course, is end of the day, we are still a for-profit organization, right?
27:26And we have to deliver value to our shareholders.
27:30That remains also a priority.
27:32But at the same time, personally, I'm also excited with the purpose of the organization, right?
27:41And in my view, the purpose of the organization, humanizing financial services across society,
27:49across people, across customer, and helping the economy to grow in the various countries
27:55that we are present in, you know, excites me as well.
27:59The other part that excites me is, of course, talent, right?
28:04You know, I really look forward when I retire, people will still give me messages or calls
28:10to say thank you to me for the kind of maybe career development that I have helped them with, right?
28:20You know, and to me, that's the best thing, because, you know, nothing beats you getting a message
28:28or a call from your subordinates, maybe in future, to say thank you for what you've done.
28:35That's very beautiful.
28:36Thank you so much, Dato Sri, for spending some time to give me a window into your insights
28:41and your plans for Maybank and beyond.
28:43Thank you so much.
28:44Appreciate it.