I'm no example: tmb bank chiefConservative

"My personal finance management is not really a model for others. I've spent most of my time with the bank. I don't have time to look after any investments, so I depend on professionals," Boontuck said.

Asked what kind of professionals he relies on, he mentioned a series of mutual funds he has bought.

"There are many mutual funds out there. Some are very convenient as you can switch your investment choices on the Internet," he explained.

His personal policy for investment is def¬initely conservative. "I don't want any unre¬alistically high returns on investment. I just want something suitable. I focus only on sta¬bility and reasonable returns."

Conservative is also the concept he has adopted for his only son, who is studying abroad. Boontuck, 51, has set a certain budg¬et for his son each month. "I taught him to know the value of saving first," the banker said.

Boontuck believes there is no certain rule for managing a couple's financial affairs. "It depends. The most important thing is that it is a sustainable relationship. Once you have trust in each other, other things, including finances, will follow," he said.

He doesn't have time for any other invest¬ments, including property assets or com¬modity investment, which need time to study and monitor. "But I do invest in my work", he said.

Boontuck has set certain goals for himself at TMB, the sixthlargest bank in terms of assets.

"For those who really love the banking business, how to serve customers' needs is more important," he said. That explains what he means by a "customercentric" approach before the bank announces its threeyear plan in September.

With a passion for the career of a banker, he thinks there's much he can do for TMB. What keeps Boontuck's passion alive is his belief that Thai customers are still "underserved".

To Boontuck, despite the current cutthroat competition among banks in Thailand, they haven't competed enough in terms of services.

"Looking at what services customers get compared to what they really need, there's a wide gap. Banks are competing for lending growth. Just throwing money at customers' pockets doesn't answer the question of cus¬tomers' needs, and they need much more than that," he said.

There is much more banks can do for their customers, Boontuck added.

Being the newcomer at any workplace, one might expect to face politics within the organ¬isation, but Boontuck believes it's not that dif¬ficult to cope with.

"If you want your employees to work hard, you must devote yourself to working double what you expect of them," he said.

The only challenge he sees with the organ¬isation is building a culture.

"Banking is a human matter. Humans are about culture. Building culture in an organ¬isation needs a certain speed, or you can't change that organisation. It can't be a grad¬ual change. It must be at a faster pace, oth¬erwise the old culture will catch up and you can't take off," Boontuck said.

A few years ago, TMB Bank integrated with DBS Thai Danu Bank and the Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand. The bank faced huge net losses in 2006 and 2007.

Dutch giant ING Group, the bank's new major shareholder, has not set a target for a return on its equity. "A sustainable profit is more important than how much the bank can generate. We need to build up franchise value without any surprises," Boontuck said.