---
endpoint: analytics
pattern: Financial Services
status: done
latency_ms: 152609
conversation_id: dd555e30-a3a0-4e35-abac-c686c8263b2c
citations: 5
created: 2026-05-31 19:21:53Z
---

# What is DBS’s core business franchise and the key components of its operating model?

## DBS Group Holdings: Core Business Franchise & Operating Model

DBS (SGX: D05) is Singapore's largest bank by assets and ASEAN's most valuable bank brand. Its franchise rests on a tightly defined three-segment business model anchored in Asia, supported by a distinctive horizontal/data-driven operating architecture.

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### 1. Core Business Franchise — Three Reporting Segments

DBS articulates its strategy plainly: it defines "the businesses that we will do and will not do" and deploys resources to build competitive advantage around three core verticals [1]:

| Segment | Role in the franchise |
|---|---|
| **Institutional Banking (IBG)** | Corporate / SME lending, transaction banking, trade finance, capital markets, energy-transition financing, digital assets [4] |
| **Consumer Banking / Wealth Management (CBG/WM)** | Retail deposits, mortgages, cards, and the Treasures / Private Bank wealth platforms — the primary engine of fee income |
| **Global Financial Markets (GFM)** | FX, rates, credit, treasury and markets income — increasingly digitalised into consumer / institutional flows [1] |

**Geographic engine — "intermediating Asia"**: DBS positions itself to "intermediate trade and capital flows as well as support wealth creation in Asia," leveraging an "established and growing presence in Greater China, South Asia and Southeast Asia" [2]. In Singapore it serves all customer segments end-to-end; outside Singapore it has traditionally served corporates and the mass-affluent, extending reach to SMEs and individuals through digital and ecosystem partnerships [2].

**Franchise differentiators (CLSA internal research view)**:
- **Highest CASA ratio of the three Singapore banks**, giving DBS a structural funding-cost advantage through the rate cycle [6].
- **Highest ROE among Singapore-bank peers** and the most explicit on capital-efficiency metrics; the bank's prior over-provisioning keeps credit costs structurally low [6].
- **Wealth management fees are the largest component of non-interest income** — the swing factor on group profitability [7].
- In 1Q25, DBS posted the strongest quarter among Singapore banks (pre-provision profit beat consensus by 6%), with non-II driven by wealth, loan-related fees and trading [8].
- CLSA models 2025–27 ROE of **15.6%–16.3%**, NIM of ~**1.98–2.05%**, with non-II of S$8.3–9.4bn — non-interest income roughly **37% of revenue** [9].

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### 2. Key Components of the Operating Model

DBS's operating model is built on four interlocking layers:

**a. Strategic anchor — "Banking the Asian Way" / "Making Banking Joyful"**
The bank seeks to "Make Banking Joyful by leveraging digital technologies and embedding ourselves seamlessly into our customers' lives" — delivering "simple, fast and contextual banking solutions" by managing through end-to-end customer journeys [2].

**b. Resource base — six capital inputs**
Brand, customer relationships, intellectual capital, employees, financial capital, and physical/digital infrastructure are the inputs DBS deploys against the three business lines [1]. The DBS brand ranks as ASEAN's most valuable bank brand for over a decade.

**c. Horizontal Organisation + Data-Driven Operating Model (DDOM)**
This is the structural innovation that distinguishes DBS from regional peers. DBS "architects its most critical customer processes horizontally and leverages data-driven operating models," which "helps break silo-thinking and foster joint accountability across cross-functional teams" [2]. The bank has scaled "the implementation of Horizontal Organisation and Data-Driven Operating Model (DDOM) across the rest of the bank" — including support units (HR, Finance, Risk, Legal & Compliance, Audit) — to improve decision-making speed and effectiveness via AI/ML [3].

**d. Governance — Balanced Scorecard**
Performance and compensation are aligned via a balanced scorecard that is updated yearly, approved by the Board, and cascaded throughout the organisation to ensure that "the goals of every business, country and support function are aligned to those of the Group" [5]. The scorecard balances financial vs. non-financial KPIs (control/compliance metrics carry roughly one-quarter weight), spans multiple stakeholder groups, and balances current-year targets vs. long-term strategic outcomes [5].

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### 3. Forward Strategic Vectors (2026 Focus Areas)

DBS's stated 2026 focus areas signal where the operating model is being extended next [4]:
- Elevate customer engagement to support clients' growth and transformation
- Amplify network and connectivity strategy to capture investment and trade flows
- Power new growth engines including **digital assets**
- Leverage **Gen AI** for differentiated client experience and scale digital acquisition

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### Synthesis

DBS's franchise is best described as a **regional Asian wealth-and-trade bank built on a Singapore CASA-funded balance sheet**, deploying three vertical businesses (IBG, CBG/WM, GFM) over a horizontalised, AI-augmented operating layer (DDOM). The combination produces structurally higher ROE than ASEAN peers — funded by cheap deposits, leveraged through wealth fees, and scaled through a digital/data operating chassis that DBS has built over a decade-long transformation now pivoting toward Gen AI and digital assets.

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**Sources**
[1] DBS Annual Report 2025 — "A beacon of stability" (Business model overview, p.70–71)
[2] DBS Annual Report 2021 — "New Initiatives, New Growth" (How we create value — three core businesses, Asian footprint)
[3] DBS Annual Report 2022 — "A Different Kind of Bank" (Horizontal Organisation + DDOM rollout)
[4] DBS Annual Report 2025 — Institutional Banking 2026 Focus Areas (Han Kwee Juan)
[5] DBS Annual Report 2019 — Balanced Scorecard framework
[6] Singapore banks — On the defensive — CLSA (13 May 2025) — DBS investment thesis (highest CASA, highest ROE)
[7] Singapore banks — Stuck in neutral — CLSA (20 May 2025) — Wealth fees as largest non-II component
[8] Singapore banks — On the defensive — CLSA (13 May 2025) — DBS 1Q25 results read-through
[9] Singapore banks — On the defensive — CLSA (13 May 2025) — DBS 25–27CL forecast table (Figure 15)

## Citations

- [1] **Annual Reports and Related Documents** · external
- [2] **Annual Reports and Related Documents** · external
- [3] **Annual Reports and Related Documents** · external
- [4] **Annual Reports and Related Documents** · external
- [5] **Annual Reports and Related Documents** · external

