Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
I started my career with Union Bank of California in Los Angeles, United States. At that time, I was in charge of business development within community banking. My responsibility was to provide the top management with a view of where the business or our competitors were heading and trying to build up a business model so that the bank would not fall behind. I worked for the bank from 1996 to 1998.

From 1999 to 2001, I continued my study.

From 2001 to 2004, I worked for ABN AMRO Bank Indonesia in charge of offshore product development. My responsibility was to introduce offshore products in Indonesia. During my service with ABN AMRO Bank, I was able to sell US$60 million offshore funds in Indonesia within a 5-month period.

From 2004 to present, I have been working for Bank Niaga Private Banking supervising 45 people which includes 16 private bankers, 10 in the product team, 10 in the support team and 9 in the operations team.

What does your role involve?
My main role as a private banking head is to realign Bank Niaga Private Banking. I focus on repositioning the bank to be at least on a par with foreign private banks, growing the business by tapping second generation, and improving the quality of skill and knowledge of my private bankers.

What is your greatest achievement to date?
My greatest achievements so far have been to improve the skill and knowledge quality of my private bankers; improve their morale so that they are aware that they are competing with foreign private bankers; bring up Bank Niaga Private Banking to become the only local private bank that operates as a private foreign bank; and contribute more than 10% of the bank’s profit.

Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
So far, the best performing products have been mutual funds, structured notes, treasury products and discretionary portfolio onshore and offshore. In addition, bancassurance is growing at a high pace.

What are the strengths of your business?
There are several areas that we consider as our strengths:
• Number of networks.
• Brand name.
• Product selections.
• CRM/private bankers.

What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
Our key success factors are human resources development and variety of products.

What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
Paradigm shift and culture.

Where do you see the Islamic finance industry, maybe in the next five years?
The Islamic finance industry is an area which a lot of people need to consider in the future. With the idea of saturation of the current financial world, Islamic finance will become the alternative. For the next five years, with the seriousness to develop the industry, I believe that Islamic finance will become as big as the conventional industry. However, this development should be followed by the development of the simplicity in terms of Islamic finance concept, including the idea of halal dan haram. In addition, Islamic finance should not only be targeted to Muslims, but also for non-Muslims.

Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance?
More variety of ideas.

From its modest beginnings in 1955, PT Bank Niaga has evolved into a financial institution which has achieved a position of leadership in Indonesia’s growing financial industry. It started as a single branch bank and years later, PT Niaga merged with Bank Agung, Bank Tabungan Bandung and Bank Amerta, significantly expanding its geographical coverage. In 1974, Niaga obtained its foreign exchange license, allowing it to provide international banking services. Fifteen years later, it became the fifth bank to have its shares listed in the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

Today, Niaga has a network of 55 branches spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Abroad, it has branches in Los Angeles and the Cayman Islands, as well as a deposit taking company in Hong Kong. Bank Niaga is also more than just a commercial bank. The bank, through its financial subsidiaries, provides a wide array of financial services, which include Life Insurance, Securities Brokerage and Underwriting, as well as Leasing and Factoring.