New research from Brand Finance highlights the rising influence of ASEAN business leaders focusing on sustainability, innovation, and empathy in leadership
KUALA LUMPUR, 13 February 2025 – Top-performing CEOs from the ASEAN region continue to make a significant impact through their leadership, according to theBrand Guardianship Index (BGI) 2025, a new report by Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy.
The report underscores the achievements of the world’s top 100 leaders, whose contributions to business growth, sustainability, and organisational transformation have cemented their reputations on the global stage.
This year’s BGI includes six distinguished business leaders from the ASEAN region – three from Singapore and one each from Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. These achievements underscore ASEAN’s ability to drive innovation, sustainability, and transformation on the global stage.
Emerging as the highest ranked CEO from the ASEAN region this year is Wee Ee Cheong of Singapore’s UOB, ranking 54th globally (up from 117th in 2024) with a BGI score of 77.4 out of 100. This achievement stems from his customer-centric approach, excelling in areas such as ‘strategy and vision’, ‘long-term value focus’, ‘commercially shrewd’, and ‘customer needs’. Wee's leadership reflects UOB’s strong commitment to customer-focused banking, particularly in the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector, where he has driven significant digital transformation initiatives.
Thailand’s Dr Kongkrapan Intarajang, CEO of PTT, follows at 66th with a BGI score of 76.4 out of 100. This score reflects his strong performance across both the business-to-business (B2B) and B2C sectors, particularly in areas such as ‘long-term value focus’, ‘commercially shrewd’, ‘positive change’, and ‘sustainability’. Kongkrapan is widely recognised for his unwavering commitment to sustainability, securing second place globally for the strongest sustainability perceptions among survey respondents.
Khairussaleh Ramli of Malaysia’s Maybank takes the 85th position with a BGI score of 74.9 out of 100. This performance is largely driven by his strong focus on the B2C sector, excelling in areas such as ‘customer needs’, ‘positive change’, and ‘sustainability’. His customer-centric approach, underpinned by digital innovation and strategic regional expansion, has been pivotal in driving a remarkable 52% growth in the bank’s brand value.
Recognised fortransforming Singapore’s DBS into a digital-first financial institution, CEO Piyush Gupta comes in at89th globally, with a BGI score of 74.6 out of 100. His strong focus on the B2C sector is reflected in his emphasis on ‘artificial intelligence’, ‘strategy and vision’, and ‘customer needs’. In the B2B sector, Gupta's leadership also shines through in his commitment to building a strong brand, fostering trust, and prioritising employee care.
At the 88th rank in the BGI this year is Tao Duc Thang, CEO of Vietnam’s Viettel with a BGI score of 74.6 out of 100. His strong performance in the B2B sector, particularly in areas such as ‘strategy and vision’, ‘long-term value focus’, ‘commercially shrewd’, and ‘understand brand and reputation’, has been pivotal to Viettel’s success. In addition to his debut in the BGI this year, Thang ranks second globally among brand guardians in the telecommunications sector. His strong focus on B2B strategies have been key to Viettel’s success, positioning the company as a recognised leader with a forward-looking, value-driven approach.
Helen Wong, CEO of OCBC Bank from Singapore, secures the 93rd rank while recording a double win for the brand. This year marks OCBC Bank’s inaugural entry to the BGI and Helen stands tall as the only female brand guardian from the ASEAN region among the world’s top 100 leaders. Her strong focus on the B2C sector, particularly in areas such as ‘strategy and vision’, ‘commercially shrewd’, and ‘understand brand and reputation’, have been instrumental in driving OCBC’s success.
Alex Haigh, Managing Director Asia Pacific, Brand Finance, commented:
"As we celebrate the exceptional achievements of the ASEAN region’s leaders in the Brand Guardianship Index 2025, it is clear that the influence of our top CEOs is growing stronger on the global stage. The remarkable accomplishments of these leaders highlight ASEAN’s growing role in driving innovation, sustainability, and transformation across industries. As we continue to see more ASEAN leaders rise in prominence, their ability to adapt, inspire, and create long-term value will undoubtedly set the standard for leadership in the years to come."
The Brand Guardianship Index 2025 reveals that perceptions of sustainability remain integral to CEO reputation. There is a strong correlation between a company’s sustainability efforts and the public perception of its CEO, with nearly half of the variation in CEO reputation attributed to how committed to sustainability the CEO is perceived to be.
However, this year’s findings highlight a shift in priorities. The most critical driver of CEO reputation is now ‘cares about employees’, reflecting heightened expectations for empathy in leadership amid economic uncertainty, mental health challenges, and rapid technological changes. Other key drivers include ‘positive change’, ‘trustworthy’, ‘customer needs’, and ‘sustainability’.
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance operates in over 25 countries. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 6,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on 6,000 brands, surveying more than 175,000 respondents across 41 countries and 31 industry sectors. By combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database — the largest brand value database in the world — Brand Finance equips ambitious brand leaders with the data, analytics, and the strategic guidance they need to enhance brand and business value.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance, compliant with ISO 20671.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm and a committed leader in the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
