Private banking often conjures images of sterile boardrooms and endless spreadsheets, but DBS Bank is flipping that stuffy script. For Carol Wu, managing director and head of private banking for North Asia at DBS Bank in Hong Kong, the future of wealth management is as much about curating experiences as it is about crunching numbers. During Art Week in March, Hong Kong’s gourmands descended on Club Bâtard for ARTable, a one-of-a-kind soirée presented by DBS and Tatler that blurred the lines between gastronomy and art, featuring chef Edward Lee, star of the South Korean show Culinary Class Wars. ARTable was the inaugural event under DBS Culinary Delights, a new initiative introducing the city’s best dining experiences to clients. In the same week, DBS hosted an exclusive fireside chat with Lee at the Four Seasons Hotel, where he shared insights from his 2024 book Bourbon Land: A Spirited Love Letter to My Old Kentucky Whiskey, with 50 Recipes. While celebrity chefs and bourbon might seem out of place in banking, Wu sees such cultural engagements as the human side of private banking. She notes that 70 to 80 per cent of her client conversations are about life experiences—travel, dining, events, and art—rather than just wealth planning. DBS supports this with a rich calendar of exclusive events, including meet-and-greets with sports legends and astronauts. With her roots in both finance and hospitality, Wu views banking as understanding people behind portfolios. Different clients have different needs—older clients focus on wealth preservation, while younger ones show interest in aggressive options like crypto. DBS also facilitates investments in alternative assets such as European and American sports teams, a sector growing about 20 per cent annually. Beyond the glitz, Wu emphasizes substance: “We are the safest bank in Asia,” a title held for 16 consecutive years per Global Finance as of October 2024. Safety, she says, is the ultimate luxury in today’s uncertain environment. But DBS builds far beyond safety—offering bespoke services where relationship managers understand business expansion and funding, which is vital when 80 per cent of clients are business owners. DBS’s strategy reflects a human-centric approach to wealth, where luxury is defined not by yachts or penthouses but by quality, personalisation, exclusiveness, and rare value.