Global Private Banking Awards 2015: Winners’ Profiles – National Winners (Africa)

Best Private Bank in South Africa

Investec

One of the major initiatives announced last year by the South African bank was to give clients access to its banking and investment services, both locally and internally, under one brand and one umbrella, and in ‘one place’. The bank provides solutions in three core areas of activity, including asset management, wealth and investment and specialist banking.

“Our clients are internationally mobile and true global citizens, and they need a bank that can meet their banking and investments needs” says Ciaran Whelan, global head of Investec Private Banking. “One Place is the culmination of our efforts over the last five years to give our clients a place to do their local and international banking and investments.”

As a result, for example, Investec UK Private Bank’s sterling-based transactional account is now available to South African clients, who have access to a card through which they can receive and make payments or simply keep funds offshore.

“For us, the depth of our client relationships is key,” says Henry Blumenthal, head of Investec Wealth & Investment, South Africa. “So, rather than a generalist relationship manager, our clients have a specialist private banker as well as a specialist investment manager.”

Investec global investment process draws on the combined skills and experience of investment teams in the UK, South Africa and Switzerland, he says.

The bank is expanding its alternative investment footprint through an “exclusive global private equity partnership” with the Carlyle Group.

It is also introducing innovation to its high-tech channels. For example, a free app gives clients a consolidated global view of their banking and investment accounts for mobile and tablet devices. A secure authentication method – a fingerprint recognition feature – enables clients to long in to their app with a single touch, as an alternative to their online password.

Investec was the first financial institution in South Africa to introduce real-time voice biometric technology for the 24/7 global client support centre. This authenticates the client, within seconds, by comparing their voice with the saved voiceprint.

Finally, a new self-directed online investment platform makes the process of investing in an actively managed share portfolios “simpler and faster”.

In 2014, at Investec net new money increased by Zar24bn (€1.6bn), an impressive 160 per cent over 2013, bringing the bank’s total assets under management to Zar381bn at the end of last year, while clients increased by 16 per cent. In the UK, Wealth and Investment is the third largest private client investment manager with £27bn (€36bn) of assets under management. ET

FirstBank Private Banking

It has been an interesting story for the private banking industry in Nigeria, and one that has occurred in stages, according to Mr UK Eke, executive director, south, at First Bank of Nigeria.

“First there was the proof of concept stage where those of us who dared to venture in this area had to prove that it was worth the endeavour,” he explains. The sustenance or survival stage followed, where those who made it out of the first stage had to invest significantly in capacity building, especially in the areas of talent and technology, making it easier to engage with clients and meet their needs.

“We’re now at a point where we have to harness the successes from the previous periods towards diversifying the means through which we meet our clients’ needs in a manner that is both beneficial to the customers and profitable to the bank,” adds Mr Eke.

FirstBank’s 1,400 clients come from across the country. The Lagos hub covers the south-west, Abuja the north and Port Harcourt the south-east.

Anyone operating in Nigeria over the last 18 months cannot help but be affected by the political situation, but FirstBank took “evasive actions to protect client assets. “Some of these actions include migrating some investments to more defensive currencies and in some cases switching asset classes for more liquidity,” explains Mr Eke. The bank is also looking to increase its capacity to provide clients with outlets in foreign jurisdictions, highlighting the diversification benefits and hedging against future outflows in foreign currencies.

Nigeria undoubtedly has challenges to overcome, says Mr Eke, but that will create opportunities. “We expect a slow period as the country goes through a transitional phase to a  – hopefully – more prosperous existence. Clients will require a degree of hand-holding and protection from the tremors that may occur along the way. We are positioned to be at the forefront in providing them with this.” ES

Best Private Bank in Kenya

Standard Bank Wealth and Investment

Standard Bank made the decision to focus on its African franchise while scaling back on acquiring new clients from outside Africa. As a consequence, the institution which has on-the-ground presence in 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, some representation outside Africa and a strategic partnership with Chinese bank ICBC, experienced significant growth, both in new clients and revenues, across its key African franchises. These include South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Mauritius.

At the Kenyan business of the South African bank, which has been operating in Kenya since late 2012, last year revenues surged by 48 per cent and new clients rose by 22 per cent, while the local team almost doubled.

In 2014, the bank took a key initiative aimed at capturing the next generation, through the launch of the Leadership Academies. These are targeted at young adults in different age groups, and one to women specifically, and have the purpose of deepening the knowledge of financial literacy, investing, leadership and philanthropy.

“We place a strong focus on generational wealth and we have been overwhelmed at the positive response we’ve received from our clients who have participated in our Leadership Academies,” says Anjali Harkoo, head of CFC Stanbic Wealth and Investment, the Kenyan wealth and investment business of Standard Bank.

Also, the bank significantly improved collaboration between business units, which increased client referrals and new business leads across the group. In Kenya, it completed a number of onshore-offshore transactions for key clients which leveraged assets held onshore and/or offshore.

Business owners, professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, and clients from the manufacturing sector are expected to be the major sources of wealth going forward.

“Land values in Kenya have appreciated significantly, with a number of our clients owning land and developing property, thereby giving rise to further leverage into their businesses and growth prospects,” she says.

 “Finding the right people is our biggest challenge in Kenya, particularly when it comes to finding relationship managers that have the right skills and qualifications,” states Ms Harkoo, explaining the bank has several initiatives in place to train and groom talent internally.

“In addition to the traditional recruitment avenues, we also reach out to our own networks with a specific focus on diaspora Kenyans working in private banks globally looking to come back home.”

 The bank has seen an increase in the number of clients in Uganda and Tanzania and will be focusing more on these countries as part of its East African expansion. ET

Best Private Bank in Mauritius

AfrAsia Bank

Founded in 2007, it is unsurprising that such a young bank as AfrAsia has digital technology at the heart of its offering.

“Digital, today, is not a choice, we have to keep up with the trends and explore opportunities and devise a roadmap towards a holistic approach,” says Thierry Vallet, general manager at AfrAsia Private Bank. “With 163,000 millionaires in Africa and a strong demand for digital in wealth relationship, we have plans to continue implementing a digital strategy that will not only promote our brand but also adapt to clients’ evolving lifestyles while always upholding our ‘bank different’ approach.”

The bank has customers from more than 120 countries, but its focus remains on the African and Asian regions as well as clients in Europe having an interest in Africa, he says. The growing number of HNWIs in Africa represent a huge opportunity and the bank plans to offer them more diverse and sophisticated investment options, explains Mr Vallet.

“One of our main challenges is to remain a reliable financial partner and solution provider through times of high risks, vulnerability or uncertainty,” he says, highlighting the bank’s open architecture approach.

Growth has been impressive, with AuM up by more than 50 per cent between 2013 and 2014 and private client numbers doubling to more than 12,500.

The bank is headquartered in the capital Port Louis but recently set up a flagship branch in Ebene complete with digital wall and table displays. It also invested heavily in the inaugural AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, the first worldwide tri-sanctioned golf tournament involving the Sunshine, European and Asian tours, in an attempt to boost international awareness of its brand.  ES