All articles by Will Cain
Will Cain
AuM growing 30% in entertainer segment
Private banks are missing out on the market for professional sportspeople and entertainers, currently growing at 30 percent a year according to an industry forecast. Steve Talboys, a director at Aon, the insurance broker, said just three of his 370 sporting clients had their investments managed by private banks Usually a football player, when he signs a lucrative contract, will have an agent who will have a preferred financial adviser in place, he said
Credit Suisse Asia-Pacific AuM grows 46%
Asia-Pacific assets under management at Credit Suisse increased 45.6 percent to CHF67 billion the highlight of a bullish set of results for 2009. Net new assets from wealth management clients (which excludes institutional flows) totalled CHF108.6 billion, up 5.3 percent for the year, compared to 5.8 percent in 2008. The bank posted income before tax of CHF3.651 billion for 2009 in its private banking division, down five percent on last year
Client portfolios claw back losses
Private client portfolios managed on a cautious mandate by UK wealth managers have recovered the losses of the financial crisis, according to research. Figures produced by Asset Risk Consultants (ARC) to the end of December 2009 showed the average sterling private client portfolio managed on a cautious mandate returned to early 2008 levels in September The average balanced portfolio was 1 percent down on the start of 2008, though not all clients will have benefited from the recovery in the final three quarters of 2009
UBS ’09 outflows top CHF100bn
UBS shed CHF33.2 billion in client assets in the fourth quarter, taking its outflows for the year of CHF101.3 billion ($94.69 billion), 6.3 percent of 2008 year-end assets. The 2009 net new money figures are only slightly better than those of 2008, when CHF123 billion (5.4 percent) was moved out of the bank by clients In percentage terms the 2009 figures are worse, because wealth management assets under management (AuM) at the start of 2008 were higher, at CHF2.3 billion
OCBC sets ups Singapore’s first ‘pure-play’
OCBCs decision to create Bank of Singapore, Singapores first domestic pure-play private bank, is a major step forward for the industry, according to an industry expert. Francis Koh, professor of the finance practice at Singapore Management University (pictured), said the move showed domestic Asian banks were becoming more organised and aggressive wealth management players OCBCs Bank of Singapore is a combination of its existing private banking business and the ING Asia-Pacific private banking assets it bought on 29 January for S$2 billion ($1.4 billion)
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get industry leading news, data and analysis delivered to your inbox
Clients consolidate as crisis fades
Private banks are bracing for a second wave of asset flows as clients receive end-of-year portfolio statements and the dust starts to settle following the financial crisis. Clients typically review their investment performance and priorities in January, making the start of the year a busy time for wealth managers In early 2010, the industry is expecting more upheaval as clients that moved money around during the financial crisis re-evaluate.
Tax amnesty outflows near an end
Private banks in offshore centres have weathered the worst of the outflows from national tax amnesties, according to research. The impacts of amnesties on offshore centres, notably Switzerland and Liechtenstein, have not been excessive, according to analysis
BoC steps up overseas focus
Having established itself as the leading domestic private bank in China, Bank of China is pursuing an increasingly international focus Will Cain talks to the head of the banks Switzerland-based private bank, Jacques Mchlany, a year after it became the first Chinese banking major in the country. As power both political and financial flows ever increasingly East, it seems only a matter of time before an Asian financial institution makes its name among the globes private banking elite.more than half of the delegates at the Private Banker International Wealth Summit, our annual conference and awards in held in October, said they expected this to happen within the next five years.
Getting active could stem margin decline
As clients shift away from discretionary mandates following poor investment performance, private banks are examining means of protecting their margins One solution being favoured increasingly by the leading firms is active advisory pricing, which links advisory services to transaction activities Private banks across the industry are turning to active advisory pricing models to help stem declines in margins and provide more transparency for clients.
BNP brings Fortis into the fold
After becoming the largest private banking business in the eurozone following its formation in May this year, BNP Paribas Fortis has outlined an industrial plan for the business as a whole, with a key focus on wealth management BNP Paribas Fortis has outlined a new business plan which features a key role for private banking, highlighting the increasing emphasis universal banks are placing on wealth management.