Global Private Banking Awards 2017: Winners’ Profiles – National Winners (Africa)

Best Private Bank in South Africa
Investec

In many national private banking markets, the leading player is a local bank rather than an international one. In the case of South Africa, the winner is neither – or, if you prefer, both.

Investec has offices around the world, including London, Zurich, Dublin and Hong Kong, as well as local branches.

“Many local investment houses have access to foreign asset management capabilities,” says a spokesman from the wealth manager. “What we believe sets us apart is that our teams in our different offices – London, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Zurich, Dublin, Hong Kong and elsewhere – collectively pool their international investment expertise to set a global investment strategy. This gives a broad range of perspectives on global risk and opportunities, which guides all of our portfolios.”

This international dimension is all the more important because of recent events affecting the wealth manager’s South African clients. “The relaxation of exchange controls in recent years has made it far easier for South Africans to invest offshore, gain exposure to global investment opportunities and markets, and allow them to diversify their portfolios,” says the bank.

Despite these opportunities, now is not the easiest time to be a high net worth individual in South Africa, given lower economic growth and political turmoil – even if South Africans now find it easier, because of the liberalisation of exchange controls, to counteract rand weakness through overseas investment. If it is not the easiest time to be a wealthy person in the country, by extension it is probably not the easiest time to be a wealth manager.

Asked how it helps its clients navigate the country’s current economic and political problems, the private bank is diplomatic, although its comments could be taken as a criticism of the government’s recent attempts to rein in monetary independence and do the opposite with its fiscal policy. 

The bank says: “As a member of the South African Banking Association and of Business Leadership South Africa, it’s Investec’s corporate responsibility to continue our engagement with government on monetary independence, financial discipline and inclusive growth.” DT 

Best Private Bank in Nigeria;
Best Private Bank in Ghana;
Best Private Bank in Kenya;
Best Private Bank in Africa for Customer Service
Standard Bank Wealth and Investment

Standard Bank’s value proposition is based on defining clients’ Wealth Quotient, which involves assessing each aspect of their “total wealth needs” to be able to offer personalised services throughout various life stages. 

“This approach helps position our solutions and offerings in a way that is astute, pragmatic and empowering, rather than in a way that is standardised, irrelevant and impersonal,” states Chris Browne, global head, Wealth and Investment, at the South-African bank.

But managing money is far from becoming commoditised. “It is not an easy task matching assets to liabilities to ensure financial goals are met and then being flexible enough to update and reassess regularly, as circumstances change,” says Mr Browne.

One of the private bank’s core pillars is to provide a “universal financial proposition” to clients, working closely with other units, while technology innovation, such as the foreign exchange app introduced last year, aims to give clients “more direct power over and access to their financial affairs”.

Standard Bank Wealth and Investment – which has a presence throughout South Africa, as well as in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius, Jersey and London – offers local and international cross border lending, corporate and business banking and business assurance, as well as foreign exchange trading and investment opportunities in Africa and abroad, and also benefits from Standard Bank Group’s operations in 21 countries. 

The bank’s focus on intergeneration wealth transfer led to the creation of Leadership Academies, aimed at providing financial education to customers’ children. Last year, the Women’s Wealth Academy launched in London, having held several academies in Africa. The aim is to educate women on “investing, raising a financially fit family, and philanthropy”.

The bank, which manages around ZAR160bn ($11.8bn) in private client assets globally, runs “exclusive” events throughout Africa, giving private bankers the possibility to interact with clients, the goal being to “support and care for their lifestyle aspirations and dreams”.

The institution pays much attention to growing wealth managers from within, through training, which helps face the challenge of finding good quality private bankers, particularly in Kenya. In this country, the political crisis has led to “subdued business activities and flows” and the bank has started offering insurance solutions and structured lending solutions. In Ghana, the bank has introduced new services, including offshore mortgages in London, and launched new apps for financial management and mobile payment. In both countries, one of the key issues remains the dynamic regulatory landscape. 

In Nigeria, where high local currency interest rates have made borrowing solutions expensive, the bank has shifted its focus from leverage to goals-based saving and investing, while ensuring to give clients appropriate advice, given the recent change of foreign exchange rules. ET

Best Private Bank in Mauritius
MCB Private Banking and Wealth Management

The island state of Mauritius has become an increasingly important offshore financial centre for African business. It has capitalised on this status by expanding its role as a place for international wealth management, with an Overseas Family Office Scheme targeting families with investable wealth of at least $5m.

This creates great opportunities for MCB Private Banking, part of Mauritius’ MCB Group, a financial services conglomerate headquartered on the island.

The private bank has made the most of these, with a particular concentration on expanding the number of premium customers – those who, as a spokeswoman puts it, “are still in the phase of building their wealth or those who have not yet assessed the full potential of being in private banking”. They must have a minimum investable wealth of around $150,000. The number of premium client accounts rose by more than 15 per cent during the fiscal year 2015-16 alone.

The financial sophistication of many of the wealthy individuals living on the island is reflected in the private bank’s relatively sophisticated customer base, although their backgrounds are also diverse.

“Our local customers can be tiered as follows: directors and CEOs, family businesses, entrepreneurs and rentiers,” says Didier Merle, head of private banking and wealth management. “A large proportion of our local customer base has an understanding of key investment principles and at MCB Private Banking and Wealth Management, we are dedicated to further increasing our customers’ understanding of their  investment needs through adapted client forums.”

This is far from all being new money. “Wealth has, in some cases, been passed down across several generations, and the implications reside very often in succession planning and ensuring that the wealth in question is preserved during transmission,” says Mr Merle. “We have a financial planning team and experienced private bankers who can guide our clients on how best to manage, transmit and preserve their wealth.” DT