Yu is senior vice president of consumer banking at the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), Taiwan. Born in 1972, she graduated from the vocational education program at Shu Guang Girls’ Senior High School in the northern county of Hsinchu and earned an executive master’s degree in business administration at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia.
“I was born in Taipei City as the youngest of eight children. My mother couldn’t take care of us all, so when I was 5 years old I was adopted and went to live in Hsinchu. Money was tight growing up, so in high school I found part-time jobs to help out. I’ve always been independent and never wanted to be a burden. As a vocational student at Shu Guang, I studied subjects like accounting, economics and international trade. After graduation, I got a position at a community financial organization, Sixth Credit Cooperative Association of Hsinchu. At the time, many vocational school graduates majoring in business such as me found work at these types of banking co-ops run by local farmers’ and fishermen’s associations.
In the early 1990s, 16 new private banks were allowed to launch services in Taiwan and I jumped at the chance to join one. I worked for 10 years at Grand Commercial Bank, which later merged with CTBC Bank Co., and then I was a branch manager at Jih Sun International Commercial Bank Co. before moving to DBS a decade ago.
Over the course of my nearly 30-year career, I’ve witnessed the transformation of the industry in Taiwan. Previously, it was dominated by several large domestic outfits and the local co-ops, while today multinational banks with expansive global networks have a big presence. A major reason for this was the government’s move [starting in the early 2000s] to consolidate Taiwan’s crowded financial sector by encouraging mergers. As a result, many smaller domestic operations were purchased by foreign banks like DBS [which acquired Bowa Bank in 2008].
(Photo by Huang Chung-hsin)
I’ve always tried to be adventurous in my career. A former supervisor at the Hsinchu co-op once gave me some inspiring advice, telling me that a young person should always be open to new possibilities and try to broaden their horizons. So I haven’t stayed in one position for too long before moving onto another role or area. At Grand Commercial, I asked for a transfer from Hsinchu to Taipei because I felt that being in the nation’s financial hub would help me get a more complete picture of the corporate banking world.
Around 15 years ago, I entered the field of wealth management back when it was a relatively new discipline in Taiwan. I’d just joined Jih Sun and they couldn’t offer me the position we’d originally agreed on, so they gave me the option to move into this area instead. I wasn’t put out by this since I’ve always backed myself and never set limits on what I could accomplish. That was my first foray into handling wealthy clients and it would lead to my promotion to branch manager and then my position at DBS. I’ve never been the sort of person who values stability. I prefer to be challenged.
The global financial crisis in 2008 was obviously a very difficult time for wealth management specialists. We had to explain to our clients patiently and sympathetically that losses were the result of turmoil in markets worldwide, something far beyond our control. While many asset managers chose to walk away from the industry at that time, my colleagues and I worked hard to win back our clients’ trust and help them find solutions. Now and then, everyone experiences some unexpected, painful tests in their career. The key is to face them with resolve. After getting through them, you’ll feel a great sense of personal achievement when you look back at that time.
In my experience, gender has no bearing on competence or work performance. Among the 42 heads of DBS branch offices across Taiwan, nearly half are women. There may be a perception that men are more rational and women more emotional, but that really depends on the individual. Some men are gentle and some women like me are tough and logical.
There’s always something new to learn in banking in terms of financial concepts, products and electronic systems. Emerging artificial intelligence applications are facilitating more effective analysis of the features and needs of various customer groups. The best bankers, regardless of whether they’re men or women, are the ones who are committed to staying on top of the latest industry trends.”
—interview by Pat Gao
Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw