Discretionary portfolio management: mandates, fees and DBS

Concept

Discretionary Portfolio Management (DPM) is a portfolio management mode in which the client sets the investment objective, risk profile, and constraints, while the DBS portfolio manager makes and executes investment decisions without approving each individual transaction. This distinguishes DPM from the advisory model: in advisory, the bank recommends, but the final decision remains with the client.

At DBS, a DPM portfolio is built around a diversified core for stability, liquidity and long-term capital accumulation. The Treasures Private Client product page publishes mandate minima of S$1 million for Discretionary Mutual Funds and Global Tactical, S$5 million for Classic, and US$5 million for Asia Focus. These differ from the relationship thresholds: Treasures Private Client is for clients with S$1.5 million in investible assets, and Private Bank for clients with US$5 million. Confirm the mandate and client eligibility together with the bank.

How DPM Works at DBS

Discretionary mandates are managed under the logic of the Chief Investment Office (CIO Office) of DBS, led by Chief Investment Officer Hou Wey Fook. The central document is the DBS House View: it sets asset allocation, relative attractiveness of asset classes, regions and sectors, as well as risk scenarios. DBS's investment process is structured in three steps: asset allocation from CIO Office → portfolio positioning under the mandate and client's risk tolerance → security selection from a high-conviction list with emphasis on winners of long-term trends and income-generating assets.

At the core of all DBS DPM portfolios is the Barbell Strategy. Capital is distributed between two pillars: the "growth barbell"—exposure to long-term irreversible trends (digitalization, e-commerce, healthcare, millennial generation, China equities), and the "income barbell"—dividend stocks, REITs and corporate bonds for stable cash flow and drawdown protection. For the client, this means the mandate is not a set of random products: the portfolio follows DBS's internal investment position, unless we're talking about a Bespoke Mandate.

Mandate Range

DBS publishes selected mandate parameters on its Treasures Private Client DPM page. The following table distinguishes the minimum investment from the portfolio's available currencies. The bank confirms terms for a customised mandate separately.

Bespoke Mandate requires a separate investment policy, tax framework and conflict control. It cannot be perceived as simply a "more expensive DPM": it is already part of the overall architecture of family capital. The regional concentration of Asia Focus also needs to be separated from the general balanced portfolio—it can be a strength or weakness depending on the family's asset balance.

Fees and Economics

The DBS Private Bank Fee Schedule, revised from 1 September 2026, states a DPM management fee of up to 1.25% per year, calculated daily on portfolio net asset value and deducted semi-annually. Transaction and custody charges apply separately, as does GST where applicable. It does not publish an AUM-based discount ladder; use the bank's written offer for the actual mandate fee.

For the client, it's important to compare not only the percentage of the fee, but also what exactly is delegated: asset allocation, instrument selection, rebalancing, risk control and investment discipline. If the client still wants to approve every transaction themselves, DPM may turn out to be more expensive than advisory without corresponding benefit.

Fee-only platforms make a useful reference point: Singapore's Endowus, licensed by MAS and the SFC, rebates fund trailer fees to the client in full and charges 0.25–0.60% a year of its own — the number a bank mandate has to justify itself against.

How DBS compares with other private banks

Few private banks publish their mandate terms, which is why DBS's table is useful as a reference. The comparison below keeps only figures each institution or its regulatory filing states, and marks where nothing is published.

Read across, the table separates three kinds of number: a mandate minimum (DBS, EFG Americas), a relationship threshold or client profile (Bank of Singapore, Pictet, Julius Baer), and a fee floor (VP Bank). They cannot be ranked against each other. What they do show is that DBS's S$1 million entry into a standardised fund or ETF mandate sits well below the relationship thresholds of the Singapore and Swiss private banks, and that its 1.25% ceiling sits below EFG Americas' 1.50%; the other houses leave both numbers to the written offer. The wider Swiss picture is in Swiss private banks.

Taxes and Structuring

For a Singapore individual tax resident, the basic logic is as follows: capital gains in Singapore are generally not taxed for individuals, and dividends on Singapore-listed shares are exempt under the one-tier system. For fund structures, separate regimes apply: foreign-source income for VCC under Section 13O/13U may be exempt if the regime conditions are met.

DPM through Private Bank within a VCC structure is a standard configuration for families with a family office, but this is not an automatic tax benefit. Separately verified are the right to the regime, economic substance, investment management organization, reporting, expenditure threshold, family office status and compliance with Section 13O/13U.

Who It Suits and When It Doesn't

Suits

DPM is appropriate when the client wants to remove daily investment decision-making and trusts the DBS management framework.

• DBS Treasures Private Client clients from S$1.5 million in investible assets, subject to the selected mandate's separate minimum and suitability review;
• DBS Private Bank clients from US$5 million in investible assets, choosing a mandate whose scope and minimum fit their portfolio;
• family offices under VCC with 13O/13U regime;
• families for whom discipline, reporting and risk control are more important than independent trading.

Doesn't Suit

DPM is not suitable for those who want to trade manually or pay retail commissions for a self-managed portfolio. The published S$1 million entry minimum for Discretionary Mutual Funds and Global Tactical is separate from eligibility for DBS banking services.

• client wants to manually manage every transaction and trade tactically themselves;
• investment mandate does not guarantee returns and does not eliminate market risk;
• structured notes and alternatives require separate suitability verification;
• regional and thematic mandates can create concentration;
• tax outcome depends on residency and ownership structure, not on the name of the banking product.