Standard Chartered (STAN) Bank of America 31th Annual Financials CEO Conference summary

Strategic focus and business performance

• Continued emphasis on affluent client proposition across Asia, Middle East, and Africa, with strong performance in these segments.

• Cross-border business remains a key differentiator, leveraging a unique network to serve institutional and wealth clients.

• No change in risk appetite, but heightened caution and improved credit quality; exited subscale mass market retail to focus on differentiated offerings.

• Wealth income growth is structural, with clients rotating between asset classes in response to market cycles; risk appetite is resuming post-FOMC clarity.

• CIB and markets business show steady growth, driven by diversification beyond FX into rates, commodities, and structured products, supported by technology investments.

Financial outlook and capital allocation

• Targeting 15% RoTE by 2028 and 18% by 2030, focusing on accretive asset growth without diluting returns.

• Non-NII expected to grow faster than NII, but loan growth opportunities are being pursued where returns are attractive.

• Increased competition for deposits, especially in Hong Kong and Singapore, but focus remains on optimizing returns rather than chasing net new money.

• Income guidance remains at the midpoint of 5%-7% growth, with a focus on exceeding targets and monitoring geopolitical and market risks.

• Capital deployment balanced between growth, dividends, and buybacks, with ongoing evaluation of market conditions and shareholder returns.

Technology, AI, and risk management

• Significant investment in AI for productivity and revenue enhancement, including agentic AI in wealth and algorithmic trading.

• Built a proprietary, cloud-based core banking system across most markets, enabling safe and rapid AI adoption.

• Centralized AI platform supports hundreds of applications, from compliance monitoring to trading enhancements.

• Cybersecurity spend is increasing to address faster-evolving threats; internal response times for vulnerabilities have accelerated from days to minutes.

• Risk management framework remains robust, but speed and agility in response to digital threats have become critical.