Global Private Banking Awards 2015- Winners’ Profiles – National Winners (Western Europe)

Best Private Bank in Switzerland

Pictet & CIE

The Pictet Group’s assets under management rose by SFr44bn (€40bn) in 2014, a growth rate of more than 11 per cent, while staff numbers were up by 6 per cent. The bank now has 26 offices in 15 countries, including 15 in Europe, and serves clients in more than 150 different countries. Asia, where the bank has been present for almost 30 years, is of particular importance, with 170 employees at its Hong Kong and Singapore offices. Despite this growing international presence, its home market of Switzerland remains a priority.

“Switzerland retains a number of advantages which are key for the success of a private banking centre and which clients highly value,” says Jacques de Saussure, senior managing partner. He highlights the country’s experienced workforce, the stable and reliable political system, strong currency and sound public finances, all factors which reassure clients in turbulent times.

“Also, despite regulatory changes which banking secrecy has undergone over the past years, the culture of discretion and confidentiality and respect for personal sphere are very much part of Swiss society’s DNA and clients value that. Indeed, privacy is a value and tax compliance makes it all the more legitimate,” adds Mr de Saussure.

In January 2014, mainly because of Pictet’s growing international presence, its management was transferred from an unlimited liability to a corporate partnership, and the bank believes its new legal structure makes it more transparent. 

“Central principles to our business model include our independence, our exclusive focus on wealth and asset management and organic growth,” says Mr de Saussure. “These characteristics, which set Pictet apart from its peers, effectively limit the potential for conflicts of interest and provide the group with stability as well as recurring and diversified revenue sources.” ES

Best Private Bank in the UK

Coutts

The recent announcement of the disposal of its Swiss private bank, with SF32bn (€29bn) of assets under management, acquired by UBP, underlines Coutts’ on-going strategy to focus on the UK market.

“Concentrating on banking in the UK and Channel Islands allows us to dedicate our best resources to serving the needs of our clients,” says Michael Morley, chief executive, explaining the bank remains committed to building the international client base out of London.

Early last year, its parent RBS committed to ongoing investment in the UK bank, recognising “its multi-year efforts to become a modern private bank and wealth manager,” and combined Coutts with the RBS Commercial Banking Division. This partnership has already brought “fresh opportunities to clients from both areas,” says Mr Morley. 

Taking a holistic approach to clients, the bank’s wealth managers and planners rely on the expertise of the Coutts Institute, established in 2005, to address sensitive issues spanning succession and philanthropy.

A key differentiating factor in customer service, says Mr Morley, is “Coutts’ unique community, which facilitates the exchange of best practice and collaboration”. The low portfolio manager to client ratio (40:1), also contributes to high customer satisfaction, as do regular intimate client events and the bank’s 24/7 telephone service.

In the technology space, key developments in 2014 comprised the incorporation of investments into Coutts Online statements, with graphical reporting offering higher transparency of performance and fees, the introduction of paperless reporting and improvement of secure messaging between clients and advisers. The bank also introduced an online concierge service for Coutts’ Silk Card holders.

Late last year, a pilot scheme was launched for the use of multipoint video conferencing allowing clients to video call their adviser through their mobile device, tablet or PC.

The UK bank also established a Technology Advisory Board to draw on the insight of authorities, including senior personnel from Avaloq and Google, and has established a network of innovation scouts in Silicon Valley.

The bank’s up-to-date core banking platform, states Mr Morley, is important in ensuring private bankers have the best possible client insight and allows them to personalise client interactions and respond in a timely manner.

“Technology is crucial, though in isolation it won’t be the differentiator – it is how it is applied which makes the difference,” he says. “Long-term success will still be driven by the trust and depth of relationships, quality of advice and proposition.” ET

Best Private Bank in France

BNP Paribas Wealth Management

With global client assets nudging $340bn (€300bn) and profits up 9 per cent to more than €920m during 2014, BNP Paribas is proving difficult to challenge. Its private banking operations in the eurozone are now making significant inroads into Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, the UK and Turkey, among others, in addition to leading positions in France and Belgium.

The judges also recognised the French bank’s increasing footprint in Asia and in Hong Kong in particular.

“Being European is a great asset to us,” says Vincent Lecomte, co-chief executive at BNP Paribas Wealth Management. “The Chinese are coming to us to help them invest in Europe, which is becoming much more attractive to them and they have a strong belief in the potential upside.”

The bank has been a significant promoter of philanthropy and opened entrepreneurial hubs across Europe, facilitated by educational programmes including a one-week course for female entrepreneurs held in California.

Its sponsorship of the prestigious Roland Garros annual tennis tournament in Paris has been a particularly efficient springboard for private banking business, helping facilitate meetings with global clients, often on the back of coaching clinics with tennis champions.

BNP Paribas has also stepped up its presence in New York, not just to encourage US flows, but to monitor global compliance with US regulations.

But the most prolific rise in the bank’s business has been in its suite of SRI strategies, aided by expertise in this area developed in the asset management division. Private client assets in SRI have burst through the $6bn barrier at BNP Paribas, currently rising 50 per cent each year and spanning strategies including microfinance, water treatment, energy efficiency and social entrepreneurship. YB

Best Private Bank in Germany          

Berenberg

At 28.8 per cent, Berenberg’s return on equity is almost five times higher than the average for German banks  which stood at 5.9 per cent in 2013, claims the institution. 

Founded in 1590, it is still an owner managed bank, and in its 425-year life it has had just 38 partners.

Last year, the bank set up a Chief Investment Office with 35 professionals for its private clients, opened offices in San Francisco and Chicago and expanded its presence in London. This continued drive to extend its services sees Berenberg receiving the German award for the seventh time.

“Successful companies are characterised by shaping the future in a vibrant way against the backdrop of their own history while at the same time maintaining a steady eye on the future,” said Hans-Walter Peters, spokesman of the managing partners. “Over the last 20 years, our company has managed the transition from being a private Hamburg bank that worked predominantly in the credit business to an internationally operating consultancy firm that focuses on securities.”

Today, there are 1,250 employees at 19 locations – three and a half times as many as before the turn of the century. Private banking operates from eight branches in Germany and from offices in London, Zurich and Geneva. Investment banking has 80 equity analysts  – one of the largest teams in Europe – and worked on 24 IPOs and capital increases last year, more than any other bank in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Berenberg doubled its assets under management during the last seven years to €36.1bn. CJ

Best Private Bank in Austria

Schoellerbank

Schoellerbank says its 12 locations make it the only private bank in Austria to have a widespread presence throughout the country. The bank has also leveraged existing relationships within the UniCredit group to gain new clients from CEE countries.

In 2013, the bank set up a new segmentation model, and has achieved major growth in assets with top clients.  More than 90 per cent of revenues come from fee-based wealth advisory services. In 2014 performance-linked management fees for segregated accounts were high owing to benign markets, and to secure these high revenues, the bank introduced a new fee model for segregated accounts in January 2015.

Its strong focus on growing segregated accounts and investment funds has been rewarded by a 13 per cent increase in volumes over the year.

“Our experts invest with an eye towards long-term, sustainable prospects rather than fast, risky returns,” says Franz Witt-Dörring, chairman of the executive board. “The success of our rigorous and transparent selection process, the Schoellerbank StarRating, is reflected in the growing number of customers trusting in our asset management. Managed products already account for about two-thirds of total assets under management.”

Another reason behind the bank’s success is constant innovation, he claims. The bank’s fund management company, Schoellerbank Invest AG, issued the first umbrella fund in Austria as well as the first fund with inflation protection.

“Our business concept is confirmed by the results of our annual customer satisfaction assessment,” says Mr  Witt-Dörring, claiming 2014 satisfaction levels are well above industry average. CJ

Best Private Bank in Belgium

KBC Private Banking

KBC has won the award for Belgium for the second consecutive year, after two ‘highly commended’ nominations in 2012 and 2013.

“The combination of increasing client satisfaction, AuM growth and excellent financial results allows us to invest in a high quality private banking service,” says Erwin Schoeters, general manager, retail and private banking. “In our search for excellence, we have not lowered our investment threshold of €1m and, in doing so, remain one of the few  private banking entities in Belgium with this threshold. As a result, the number of clients per relationship manager is limited and allows for a very personalised and broad service.”

The average holding per client has increased over time to €2m, and the typrical relationship manager has no more than 90 clients.

The bank has introduced Regional Advice Centres (RAC) where clients can get in touch  after office hours, but these are not call centres,  rather they are staffed by regular advisers who offer portfolio advice, and the option of giving orders by telephone.

 Estate planning services are offered to all clients, and details are fed into a database of clients’ estates, so that steps can be taken should legislation change. The bank says this is important, as its tax and legal advice is a significant factor in determining overall client satisfaction, leading it to boost meetings to discuss estate-related matters by 54 per cent from 1,112 in 2012 to 1,712 in 2014.  CJ

Best Private Bank in Luxembourg

ING Private Banking

At ING, years of preparation to changes in the regulatory landscape have paid off. Efforts to adapt to the end of private banking secrecy and the global move to transparency, sealed by the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard to combat tax evasion, have enabled the private bank, winner of the award for the third year running, to “strongly limit asset outflows,” explains Sandrine De Vuyst, head of private banking ING Luxembourg.

The strengthening of client on-boarding measures, started in 2009, as well as the bank’s wealth analysis and planning department have given the bank an “in-depth” understanding of wealth creation and clients’ tax compliance, and have facilitated adherence to new reporting standards.

As the lure of the Grand Duchy as a jurisdiction to hide undeclared assets has definitely waned, as for other offshore centres, there has been a clear shift in the types of clients the country serves. This has changed from the mass affluent segments of neighbouring countries typically banking there to minimise taxes, to the wealthier, more international and demanding clientele, attracted by Luxembourg’s cross-border, multi-lingual, multi-cultural expertise.

“We remain focused on the increasing sophisticated needs of both the local and international UHNWIs,” says Ms De Vuyst. “By leveraging on ING’s universal banking capabilities, our innovative lending along with accommodative and stable legal environment in Luxembourg, we believe ING Private Banking Luxembourg is well positioned to handle growing demand of innovative and sophisticated wealth planning solutions of the UHNWIs.”

Luxembourg has been elected as the centre of expertise of the ING group, to serve wealthy clients with cross-border needs. The private bank last year went through a restructuring process which resulted in the segmentation of private bankers as ‘hunters’ and ‘farmers’. The hunters seek clients in new markets, including Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, Morocco and UK non-domiciled clients. The farmers, more senior advisers, serve existing clients in the core markets of Luxembourg, Netherlands, France and Belgium.

Both groups are supported by a team of business specialists in credit, risk management and wealth planning. 

To face increasing pressure on profits, the private bank has strengthened internal collaboration with the group’s internal businesses, including financial markets, business banking and commercial banking. “The aim is to further expand banking relationships with UHNW clients into other lines of business, thereby spreading the costs of client acquisition and retention,” explains Ms De Vuyst.

The institution has also developed investment and service solutions for specific client segments, such as family offices, professional athletes and global expatriates. ET

Best Private Bank in The Netherlands

ABN AMRO MeesPierson

ABN Amro, which has taken the runner up slot in Europe and lifted the Netherlands private banking crown, gives the impression of still being a work in progress.

With the forthcoming IPO now having received clearance, there is a feeling internally that the bank will enter a new stage of development, once it becomes freed from temporary stewardship by the Dutch government.

That said, there has been no lack of innovation at ABN Amro, and client assets rose by 13 per cent to $210bn (€186bn), with massive inflows of $6.1bn during 2014.

Not only has the bank been holding successful “Next Generation”, philanthropy and entrepreneurship seminars on home soil, in addition to start-up bootcamps, but it is also continuing to spread its private banking tentacles through neighbouring countries and further afield in the Middle East and Asia, where a discretionary portfolio management service has been introduced.

The Neuflize franchise in France and Bethmann in Germany are holding up particularly well. Neuflize is a founding partner of Babyloan.org, an online platform providing small loans to emerging market entrepreneurs.

No slouches when it comes to technological transformation, ABN reports 30 per cent of clients using its private banking app daily. According to Aite Group’s Alois Pirker, one of PWM’s judging panel, the group started a mindset shift around five years ago, when it launched Dialogues House, an internal “innovation laboratory”, fostering external start-ups around the banking sector

While this initiative did lead to some successes, more important has been a realisation that the same opportunities and processes should be opened up internally, so that bank staff can put forward ideas and solutions and bring new concepts to the private banking offer.

“Providing relationship managers and clients with new tools can be a great opportunity to better service our clients in this new environment,” says Hein van der Loo, head of strategy and business development at ABN Amro Private Banking International.

Indeed, the bank is facing up to an existential threat, as its management in Amsterdam feels that if wealth managers fail to shape up to fast-paced digitisation, they cease to exist. The technology is there to be exploited, but it must be correctly utilised, says Mr van der Loo.

“Some of these tools – if used in the right manner – can help private banks and wealth managers to service clients faster, more pro-actively and with a more tailor-made approach.” YB

Best Private Bank in Monaco

Société Générale Private Banking

SocGen appears to have pulled back from ambitions for a full scale global operation, challenging the likes of UBS and Credit Suisse in private banking, to a more selective regional portfolio.

This focuses on its home market of France, a healthy franchise for expatriate-led business in the Southern, sun-kissed Principality of Monaco, an expanding European business and deeper penetration in some of the bank’s traditional emerging economies of North Africa and the Middle East.

This gradual re-focus is being augmented by the total revamp of SocGen’s technology architecture, concentrating on re-shaping not just the ebanking offers, but transforming all areas of client contact right across the business.

Jean-Francois Mazaud, head of Société Générale Private Banking, emphasises this latest focus on core markets through strong regional networks, now that the more peripheral Asian private banking business has been offloaded to Singapore’s DBS. This marks a major change for the French bank, which until recently saw Asia, and Singapore in particular, as a key hub for future frowth.

“Our presence in Monaco is a key part of this strategy, alongside France, the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Middle East,” reaffirms Mr Mazaud, who also highlights presence in the Czech Republic, Croatia and Morocco, where clients are serviced through partnerships with the group’s retail branch banking networks.

In Monaco, the bank acknowledges its international clientele of high net worth individuals, including a substantial coterie of Russians, by offering a combination of specialist expertise and a tailor-made approach to investments and structuring.

“Our know-how is particularly recognised in the financing of yachts, private jets and prestigious residences,” says Mr Mazaud, who has developed product and service ranges aimed specifically for clients in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean. YB

Best Private Bank in Liechtenstein

LGT

LGT is a “pure play” private bank that claims to differentiate itself from peers through strong in-house asset management and manager selection capabilities.

The bank uses an asset allocation process based on estimating scenario-specific returns for more than 100 asset classes. This is fed into a model to construct an asset allocation that will “perform robustly in all baseline scenarios” rather than achieve a maximum performance in just one type of market.

More than 100 LGT specialists continuously monitor investment managers for the firm’s funds of hedge funds manager and private equity funds of funds. In private equity, LGT has acquired approximately $6.5bn (€5.8bn) of original commitments through 185 secondary transactions since inception in 1998, and has generated an annual internal rate of return without leverage of 21.9 per cent.

In 2003, LGT enshrined its first clauses relating to environmental and social responsibility and good governance (ESG) in investment programmes, using a proprietary tool known as the ESG Cockpit to screen funds for companies with the highest ESG risks as well as to select those with business models that can benefit from ESG themes. Its ESG expertise is also available to clients and has been used by third party pension funds.

“These awards confirm that we are on the right track with our international growth strategy but also that our position as a leading provider of sustainable and impact investing opportunities is recognised in the industry,” says Thomas Piske, CEO of LGT Private Banking. CJ