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COMPANY IN FOCUS

Reyl SingaporeMr. Charles Bok

Chief Executive Officer

Mr.CharlesBok is new to Singapore. He recently moved here to spearhead andmanage the Singapore branch of the Reyl Group, a Swissbased company inwealth management. Mr. Bok was previously working atReyls headquarters in

Geneva.

Reyl is a familyowned company set up in 1973 by Mr. Dominique Reyl, founder

and president of the company. Today the company is run by the second

generation. The founders son, Mr. Franois Reyl, has taken the command asChief Executive Officer. The ReylGroup has been growing steadily and currentlymanages assets in the vicinity of SGD 5 billion. They employ over 100 people in

offices in Geneva, Paris, Luxemburg and now also Singapore. When Mr. Bok

started working for Reylfour years ago, there were 30 employees.

The ReylGroup broadly offers three different kinds of services: private wealthmanagement, inhouse range of Funds and private office services or lifestylemanagement for the very wealthy. Reyl&Cie (Geneva) is a fullfledged privatebank. The company likes to differentiate itself by its dedicated and personalizedclient relationships. The clients always remain at the forefront.

The establishment of Reyl Singapore in 2009 was a natural development andstrategic decision for the ReylGroup to expand its operations in Asia in line withthe current economic growth and wealth generation in the region. In June 2010ReylSingapore has been licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (CMS

licence of Fund Management). Charles mission is a challenging one. He hasstarted from scratch and developed not only a new branch office, but also a new

market altogether. Reyl has some existing clients who were interested to

diversify their assets in Asia, so the company is profitable from day one, but theirmain target is to look for new Asian investors. Currently there are 6 people

working in the Singapore office, but Mr. Bok is ambitious. His rationale is thatReylcan offer local clients the expertise of highlevel, Swissstyle private wealthmanagement combined with a very dedicated and highly professional staff. ReylSingapore is a relatively small player, but they work in partnership with toplevellocal banks. That way, Mr. Bok reasons, we offer at the same time the dedicated

services and personalized contact of a small company on the one hand and thestrength and leverage of working with a big company on the other hand. Also,

Reyl Singapore can leverage on the strategic and financial resources of theheadquarters in Geneva, a city that has attracted some of the best experts in thebusiness.

The challenge for ReylSingapore is nonetheless big. The name Reylis not knownin Singapore yet and on a first impression Mr. Bok has noticed that Asian

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investors seem to be more shortterm oriented and want to make money fast.The new generation however seems to understand that capital preservation is

important. One of the challenges that Mr. Bok foresees for ReylSingapore is tofind a balance between improving the quality of their local clients portfolioswithout imposing their view.

Another observation Mr. Bok made is that business people in Asia are extremelymotivated to succeed and the environment is very dynamic, but that at present

the quality of services in the region is not so impressive. This is where he seesanother opportunity for Reyl Singapore, having ample expertise in highlevel

services. Another project Reyl is working on, is offering services to Europeanentrepreneurs who want to expand their business abroad. One of the strategies

is to help them look for partners. In a first instance, ReylSingapore will adopt apragmatic approach and concentrate on niche markets rather then attacking bigmarkets such as China. In this business, Mr. Bok ads, it is all about building

trust and confidence. Some of our clients looked more than ten years for a

private banker they could trust.

Mr. Bok is of Belgian nationality and has a degree in commercial engineeringfrom HECin Liege. He worked in finance all his life, starting withJPMorgan andthen Fortis in Belgium. In 1997 he moved to Geneva with his wife and children towork for a Dutch company in wealth management, Kempen&Co. Four years agohe switched to his current employer Reyl. Mr. Bok likes his job a lot, one of the

reasons being that he has the opportunity to meet some very interesting people.One common point he notes with the highlevel clients he encounters is that they

all have a very outspoken view and that they all have taken risks. Mr. Bok is very

excited about his challenging task ahead and eager to explore the market.

IsabelleLeliaert