DBS expands FX and commodities products as clients seek higher returns

DBS' 300,000 wealth clients are increasingly embracing FX and precious metals, said Rohit Meena.

DBS has made foreign exchange (FX) and commodities products more accessible for its retail investors seeking to capitalise on the good returns offered by currencies and precious metals.

Southeast Asia’s biggest bank by assets has rolled out products like equity linked investments (ELI)— a structured investment product offering returns based on stocks— and will be rolling out similar products such as equity linked notes (ELN) in the future, said Rohit Meena, managing director, DBS.

This is in answer to a dilemma that DBS faced a few years back: how to reach the non-accredited and non-idealized investors amongst its 300,000 wealth management clients in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Retail investors have increasingly looked into non-traditional investment classes as their returns from stock markets erode, Meena noted in a fireside chat during the ABF IA Summit 2025 held in Sofitel Singapore.

“Our clients are definitely embracing more FX and commodities in their investment journeys,” said Meena, who is also head of FX and Commodities, Wealth Management Solutions, Global Financial Markets at DBS.

“[The] conversations we're having with our clients are around how they can hedge or take the views in different currencies so they can capitalize on values that are coming under these asset classes. So I think it's a permanent shift,” he added.

Meena and DBS are also seeing more of their clients taking exposure to gold, silver, and precious metals such as palladium as these are seen as “really good defense commodities” whilst delivering good returns.

In response to this, DBS is preparing to launch investment products in this space.

Other products to look forward to from DBS are structured deposit products, structured products related to principal retention, and products that revolve around the government space, Meena said.

The bank has complemented this with its digital platforms, DBS Treasures and the DBS iWealth mobile app, and even its very own digital exchange, the DDEx.