The finalists for this year’s Global Private Banking
Awards demonstrate it has been a strong year for HSBC Private Bank
and Credit Suisse, both of which are in contention for the top
global prize. SG Private Banking has also had a good year with five
finalist spots.

 

Credit Suisse, HSBC Private Bank and Barclays Wealth are in
competition for Private Banker International’s outstanding global
private bank award at its 19th annual awards and conference on 5
and 6 October.

All three have demonstrated excellence in
private banking in one of the most difficult years in financial
history and continued to invest in their business and strategy.

They have all managed to avoid direct
intervention in their businesses by domestic regulators, which has
enhanced their reputation and standing among investors.

Barclays Wealth has strengthened its
geographical footprint in the last 12 months, with its
opportunistic purchase of parts of the failed Lehman Brothers,
including its wealth management business in the Americas. It has
continued in 2009 in the same vein, hiring Mitch Cox from Merrill
Lynch to lead its products division, and rolling out a successful
ETF proposition.

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Speaking to Private Banker International
earlier this year, Barclays Wealth CEO Tom Kalaris said Barclays’
primary strategic aim was to bring a more professional and
institutional approach to wealth management.

HSBC Private Bank, in particular, has
benefited from having the weight of the world’s leading financial
brand behind it, with all of the trust and respect that
entails.

Speaking to PBI in this issue, CEO Chris
Meares said the bank saw one of its key differentiators as its
strength in alternatives.

“There are not many people operating in this
area, because it’s highly specialised, and we see it as a definite
niche,” Meares said.

Credit Suisse continues to benefit from its
position as the industry’s most successful proponent of the
one-bank model.

“We have actively and successful managed our
business through one of the biggest crises in the last 100 years,”
said Marcel Kreis, Credit Suisse’s head of Asia-Pacific private
banking (see PBI 251).

Winners for this and all of the other
categories are to be announced at Singapore’s Fullerton Hotel on 5
October.

Finalists were selected by a panel of
independent judges (see box left), including the PBI editorial
team, following a nomination process opened up to the readers of
the magazine. Winners are selected after consultation with the
awards judging panel.

 

OUTSTANDING GLOBAL PRIVATE
BANK

Credit Suisse

Among the best performers of the
world’s largest wealth managers, it is also one of the few banks to
have made the one-bank model work. Credit Suisse has developed its
UHNW proposition in Europe and Asia, opened new offices in key
markets – Brazil, Japan and Mexico and hired high-quality
professionals across the business.

Barclays Wealth

Barclays Wealth has, largely by
acquisition, developed into a global wealth manager this year,
picking up Lehman Brothers’ assets in the Americas and hiring
aggressively in various regions, particularly Asia. It is looking
at further acquisitions across the globe and has been pioneering in
its use of ETFs in wealth management.

HSBC Private Bank

One of the banks which managed to
avoid the main problems of 2009, and has preserved its brand better
than any of the other large wealth managers. The private bank
launched in Russia and opened new private banking locations in
mainland China at a time when many were unable to invest in new
markets.

 

OUTSTANDING PRIVATE BANK –
ASIA-PACIFIC

Bank of China

Bank of China has been the leading
Chinese bank in developing both its domestic business, with an
aggressive branch expansion programme, and its international
operations, with a branch-opening in Switzerland and acquisition of
a 30 percent stake in Swiss hedge fund Heritage Fund
Management.

Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse’s Asia-Pacific
business has been without doubt the highlight of the private bank’s
performance over the past year. It had an exceptional start to
2009, with net new money coming in at an annualised rate of 22
percent, while investments in Australia and Japan are starting to
bear fruit.

Standard Chartered

StanChart has shown exceptional
growth in the two years since it was set-up and has been part of
one of the most successful banking groups throughout the financial
crisis. Aggressive hiring of RMs during the downturn, increasing
presence in Asia-Pacific and the introduction of well segmented
campaigns for Australian expats and southern hemisphere sports
people make it a contender.

 

OUTSTANDING PRIVATE BANK –
EUROPE

Bank Sarasin

Bank Sarasin has shown good
strategy, market diversification and benefited from its
sustainability image in the past 12 months. The Swiss-based bank
has had industry-leading inflows into its private banking business,
and invested in key geographies including eastern Europe, India and
Hong Kong.

BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas has benefited from an
impressive range of businesses across its global footprint, and
generated net new money of 7.8 percent in 2008, making in the best
performer of the world’s top 10 wealth managers. It has
demonstrated the ability to run multiple business models, while its
recent acquisition of Fortis Belgium made it the number one private
bank in the Eurozone.

SG Private Banking

The bank has demonstrated continued
excellence in its private banking business both strategically and
with regard to products. In its collaboration with Rockefeller
& Co, SG has also created one of the most talked about deals in
private banking, with a new family office platform ready to
launch.

 

OUTSTANDING PRIVATE BANK – NORTH
AMERICA

Wells Fargo

Much can be expected from Wells
Fargo in the coming years. Its acquisition of Wachovia, has
broadened its geographic reach and ability to cater to the wealthy
at all levels, whether retail brokerage, private banking, or family
office.

Bessemer Trust

Bessemer enjoys a stellar reputation
among the wealthy. It is one of the US firms that has managed to
get through the crisis unscathed and has expanded its already
dominant market position.

Royal Bank of Canada

An excellent year for the Canadian
bank, which has benefited from clients consolidating assets because
of its AA- rating. It has expanded in key markets including India,
China and Brazil, is one of the world’s top private client trust
businesses and is now a top-15 global wealth manager.

 

OUTSTANDING PRIVATE BANK – LATIN
AMERICA

HSBC Private Bank

With more than 30 years of service
as a private bank in Latin America, HSBC Private Bank is one of the
top five wealth managers on the continent. It benefits from the
bank’s extensive retail, commercial and investment banking presence
in the region, which spans 14 countries with 4,000 offices.

Banco Santander

One of the premier international
banking brands in South America, Santander has developed into a
significant player with the acquisition of parts of the ABN AMRO
business, making particular inroads in Brazil, the region’s most
important wealth market.

Itaú-Unibanco

Since Banco Itaú and Unibanco merged
to form Latin America’s largest wealth manager, it has outlined
ambitious plans to double its assets under management to $60
billion. It has already expanded its presence in south America and
recently opened a private banking outlet in Switzerland.

 

OUTSTANDING PRIVATE BANK – MIDDLE
EAST

Bank Sarasin-Alpen

The Middle East arm of Bank Sarasin,
one of the leading private banks globally this year, Sarasin-Alpen
has continued to build its franchise in the region, particularly in
its core wealth hub of Qatar, since being awarded Outstanding
Private Bank for the Middle East in last year’s awards.

Standard Chartered

A long and established presence in
the Middle East makes Standard Chartered one of the preferred homes
for client funds in the region, and assets under management stayed
broadly flat across the year. It is present in 11 markets in the
region with nearly 9,000 banking staff.

Emirates NBD

Emirates NBD launched an ambitious
push into the private banking market at the start of the year and
has formed the first serious domestic competitor to the
international wealth managers in the Middle East.

 

OUTSTANDING PRIVATE BANK – UHNW
CLIENTS

Credit Suisse

The bank, the world’s third largest
wealth manager, has continued its commitment to banking
entrepreneurs and the UHNW through its one-bank model in 2008 when
others have scaled back their activity.

JPMorgan

One of the few US banks that has
emerged from the financial crisis with its reputation in tact,
JPMorgan has continued to go from strength to strength in its
private banking unit. Its services have been highly spoken of among
nominees in both the US and Asia.

HSBC Private Bank

A robust UHNW platform that has
attracted praise from nominees and has proved popular among wealthy
clients in the last 12 months. Its aggregate reporting service and
focus on long-term relationship building with clients has
positioned it as one of the leading providers for UHNW clients.

 

OUTSTANDING WEALTH MANAGER FOR
THE AFFLUENT (Asia-Pacific)

CIMB

CIMB has aligned its business model
in 2008 by leveraging its retail banking franchise, setting up a
credit unit and investing in talent despite the downturn. It is now
well positioned to offer a seamless private banking service from
the affluent to HNW individual as one of Malaysia’s most respected
brands.

CITICfirst

The service has helped CITIC gather
significant assets since launch in 2006 and continues to go from
strength to strength, with customer numbers totalling 13,700. It
has succeeded by offering the variety and quality of services
usually offered by private banks to its affluent consumer base.

Kasikornbank

A quickly developing private banking
business in Thailand, Kasikorn has developed the core of an
excellent private banking offering and has the infrastructure to
benefit from the attractive fundamentals of the Thai wealth
market.

StanChart (Priority
Banking)

Clients using StanChart’s Priority
Banking have proved a useful source of referrals for the
institution’s private bank as they generate or inherit wealth. The
product line is considered an important one in Asia-Pacific, and
the unit is actively hiring in key markets including China,
Singapore and Hong Kong.

HSBC (Premier)

Premier has proved itself as one of
the leading affluent services in the world, with a range of
features developed on the back of its One HSBC information system.
It offers outstanding convenience to clients in foreign exchange,
branch access and accessibility online.

 

OUTSTANDING PRIVATE BANK – CRM
SKILLS

Hoare & Co

The UK-based private bank’s model of
old-fashioned, traditional banking and customer service has proved
a hit in the last 12 months. It has expanded its client base and
assets under management selectively.

EFG International

EFG International, set up in 1995,
is renowned for putting its client relationship officers at the
centre of its business. It remains one of leading wealth managers
for client service, as recognised in numerous industry surveys.

Julius Baer

The division of Baer’s private
banking and asset management units underline its position as the
world’s leading pure-play private bank. Once again, it has shown a
pioneering approach to strategy which looks certain to position it
as a trusted home for high net worth clients in the coming
years.

 

OUTSTANDING WEALTH MANAGER FOR
INNOVATION OF PRODUCTS & SERVICES

MASECO Financial

The development of US/UK tax
compliant products and services – particularly the establishment of
mutual funds with UK distributor status, has positioned MASECO
perfectly to gain client business from US clients.

SG Private Banking

Ground-breaking alliance with
Rockefeller has helped tailor products to HNW and UHNW individuals.
New initiatives this year included the strengthening of its art
advisory service and promotion of innovative charity in its
philanthropy arm.

Barclays Wealth

Appointment of Mitch Cox seen as a
positive step in developing the wealth managers already strong
product and service mix, including expertise in structured products
and the popularity of its Global Beta fund of etfs strategy.

 

OUTSTANDING WEALTH MANAGER FOR
FAMILY OFFICE SERVICES

Genspring Family Offices

Genspring CEO Mel Lagomasino says
the financial crisis has been the perfect time for multi family
offices like hers to make inroads into the market. The business has
been extending its presence in across the US, with three
acquisitions in 15 months.

Client Associates

Set-up by Rohit Sarin in 2002,
Client Associates was India’s first multi family office. Positioned
in one of wealth management’s fastest-growing markets, it is well
positioned to succeed in a market with the second-highest number of
UHNWIs in Asia.

SG Private Banking/Rockefeller
partnership

The partnership has established a
blueprint for private banks looking to move into the multi family
office space. The two businesses have successfully worked on a new
family office services platform, to be launched soon, showing the
benefits that can come from partnerships between private banks and
MFOs.

 

MOST EXCITING NEW WEALTH
MANAGEMENT MODEL

MASECO Financial – See
earlier

Religare Macquarie

Ambitious plans for expansion in
India, including the quadrupling of its adviser numbers in the
country. It has also pioneered a team-based advisory model it calls
‘tripod’ allowing clients access to personalised planning,
investment advice and outstanding customer service.

SG Private Banking/Rockefeller
partnership
– See earlier

 

OUTSTANDING PRIVATE BANKER –
GLOBAL

Eric Sarasin, CEO, Bank
Sarasin

Bank Sarasin has been one of the
most popular nominees in the 2009 awards, and Eric Sarasin has
played a key role in driving the business forward through expansion
and a nuanced business strategy.

Peter Flavel, CEO, Standard
Chartered

Standard Chartered’s phenomenal
growth in the past two years has been masterminded by Peter Flavel.
The bank has surged past rivals in Asia-Pacific, and has been one
of the great success stories across the entire private banking
industry.

Daniel Truchi, CEO, SG Private
Banking

Truchi, a 37-year veteran of the
industry, is regarded as among the most influential professionals
in wealth management. He oversaw four acquisitions for SG Private
Banking in 2008, including its stake building in Rockefeller.

 

OUTSTANDING PRIVATE BANKER –
ASIA-PACIFIC

Catherine McDowell

A long and impressive career in
private banking, McDowell is in charge of one of most Asia-focused
of the Australian private banks, particularly after its acquisition
of RBS’s wealth operations.

Anthonia Hui

Arguably one of the most
high-profile Asia-Pacific private bankers, with previous experience
at Coutts, SG Hambros, BSI, BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse in
Singapore. She is an active participant in the industry through
workshops and teaching.

Marcel Kreis

Kreis has had a distinguished career
in private banking which started in 1981 as product manager at Citi
Private Bank. Since joining Credit Suisse in 2007, he has
established the bank as one of the most dynamic and respected
players in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

OUTSTANDING YOUNG
PRIVATE BANKER

• Jeroen Simons, executive
director, ABN AMRO

• Johanes Oeni, managing
director, Credit Suisse

• Dominique Joey, chief
executive, LGT

• James Sellon,
founder-partner, MASECO Financial

• Josh Matthews,
founder-partner, MASECO Financial

• Matthew Young, managing
director, Asia Pacific, Royal Bank of Canada

• Nipun Mehta, executive
director and head of private banking, SG Private Banking
(India)

• Virginie Issumo, senior
estate planner, SG Private Banking (Luxembourg)

• Nathalie Rehm, global
senior private Banker, SG Private Banking (Luxembourg)

• Zubin Dabu, head of the
global Indian market, Standard Chartered

• Feroz Sukh-Roswell,
handling global expats, Standard Chartered