BCG - The Boston Consulting Group

Situation

A major European bank with a strong investment banking and global markets business in Asia-Pacific needed a strategy to better serve and capitalize on its Financial Institutions clients base in the region. The bank engaged BCG to explore four markets: China, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. Our assignment was to evaluate the market potential and identify opportunities in key client segments and products.

Approach

Based on market research, as well as extensive interviews with industry practitioners, the BCG team developed a deep understanding of the most important opportunities in each of the four markets. We realized that a number of common growth themes applied to all four. For each of these themes, BCG identified key growth drivers, target client segments, specific product demands, and relevant competitors. Our team also conducted a high-level assessment of the client’s capabilities in order to discern major areas that needed improvement. We suggested that a solution-based approach, rather than a product-based approach, could best leverage the client’s capabilities across multiple product lines, better fulfill the needs of its Financial Institutions clients, and most effectively capture the bank’s opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Impact and value created

The client’s senior executive team and its Asia CEO supported our recommendations, and the bank decided to develop a strong position in each of the major growth areas we identified. Headcounts and risk capital were reallocated accordingly, and the Asia head of this business division acted on our findings. Twenty-four months after completion of the project, the bank had successfully built a strong position and become one of the market leaders in key growth areas recommended by BCG.

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