Best Private Bank in Italy - Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking
Formed by the merger between Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo Imi in 2007, Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking is a dominant player in the Italian private banking space with its €75bn in assets under management. Over the past two years, net new money grew by €4.2bn, of which €1.7bn gathered in 2010.
The number of high net worth clients, who are served by 800 relationship managers, has remained stable at 40,000 year on year. “The largest part of net new money derives from new investments made by existing clients, who were satisfied by the performance generated by our gestioni patrimoniali (Italian multi-manager discretionary portfolios) in the difficult years of 2009-2010,” states Paolo Molesini, CEO. “Increasing the share of wallet is definitely a primary objective for a private bank of our dimensions. However, we are constantly committed to acquiring new clients from the market or through synergies with the retail and corporate clients of the Intesa Sanpaolo banking group.”
Operating profit has increased by 37 per cent to €176m, mainly due to an improvement in the asset allocation in clients’ portfolios, achieved through a correct mix on managed investments – such as funds, gestioni patrimoniali and insurance policies – as well as to the recent introduction of added value advisory services.
The integrated platform with a single fee for transaction and banking services launched in 2010 was the first step towards the creation of “an all-round advisory service,” created in 2011 with Private Advisory. This is a fee based, highly customised service for clients who are not willing to delegate completely their portfolio management and have assets of more than €2.5m. The bank is working on extending this service to clients with wealth worth €1m to €1.5m. This strategy has increased the percentage of recurring income, improving financial results.
To implement its growth plans, operating expenses have increased by 7 per cent, but cost control and economies of scale have enabled Intesa Sanpaolo private bank to reduce its cost income ratio from 56 to 52 per cent, explains Mr Molesini.
The Italian bank is the first in the county to make widespread use of the latest generation videoconferencing systems, which connect the branches with the central headquarters, and thus to offer clients a remote advisory service, he says.
“We are aware that our human capital is our most important asset and it is especially in these uncertain and volatile markets that our role becomes fundamental,” says Mr Molesini. “Private bankers should be close to clients and periodically discuss the investment decisions. “Clients need to be reassured, so that they do not make any rash and panic-driven decisions.” ET
