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June 2017 Issue 345 www.privatebankerinternational.com

•Theblockchain’suseinwealthmanagement•Interview:HSBCCanada

•Overview:PBILondonConference&Awards2017•Countrysurvey:SouthAfrica

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June 2017 y 1

EDITOR’S LETTERPrivate Banker International

A love song for June... and hybrid models

CONTENTSNEWS

2: NEWS DIGEST

3: NEWS ANALYSIS

15: PBI LONDON AWARDS 2017

16: TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

17: REGULATION ROUND-UP

18: PBI GREATER CHINA AWARDS

19: PEOPLE MOVES

20: PBI GLOBAL AWARDS

ANALYSIS

8: PEAK DIGITAL IN WEALTH MANAGEMENT

The prevailing theme at the recent annual PBI London Conference and Awards was, yet again, technology. However, other fields have found that digital’s reach may be finite, writes WealthInsight’s Oliver Williams

COUNTRY SURVEY

10: SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is set to experience a strong rise in demand for professional wealth management. However, pension and financial planning services will be the most popular. Vania Goncalves finds out more

FEATURE

4,5: BLOCKCHAIN

Given its potential to both disrupt and enhance processes and systems, there is undoubtedly growing interest among wealth managers in using blockchain. Industry experts talk to Robin Arnfield about where the attraction and potential use cases lie

6,7: TOP 25 PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGERS

The world’s 25 largest private wealth managers grew their AuM by 5.5% in 2016, according to new research by Private Banker International and GlobalData. PBI can now reveal who the top global players are, and looks at what they are doing right

9: INTERVIEW: HSBC CANADA

Canada’s private wealth management market is a major opportunity, and HSBC is aiming to double its Canadian private client business. Robin Arnfield speaks to Nader Guirguis, CEO, HSBC Private Wealth Services (Canada)

11-14: PBI LONDON CONFERENCE 2017

The fourth annual Private Banker International London Conference 2017 on 8 June brought together professionals and experts from the private banking and wealth management industry to discuss key issues and themes that are influencing, shaping, and impacting the sector. Vania Goncalves reports back with an overview of the day

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The month of June is always a busy one for us at Private Banker International. It is the month for two of our most awaited annual awards - one in Hong

Kong and the other in London (find out more about the winners on pages 15 and 18).

Of course this is also the month for the PBI London conference - the all-day event that takes place on the same day as the London awards - and is packed with debate and dis-cussions (more about that from pages 11 to 14). This year, the London conference and awards took place on the day of the UK general elections, adding to the day’s drama (more about that on page 3).

What I love about the awards - going through all the shortlisted nominations - as well as the day of the conference itself is to hear from key industry participants about the most interesting and innovative products and services that they have launched in the last 12 months, the changes they have gone through and the challenges they have conquered.

While the award nominations themselves provide these insights on paper, the confer-ence gives way to conversations around these key developments that are both enriching and educational.

This year, the one aspect that emerged as a clear point of focus at the conference and among the award winners in Asia and Europe was the importance of ‘hybrid’ busi-ness models. The conversations seem to have strongly shifted from ‘how can we stop fin-tech firms from eating our lunch’ to ‘how can we collaborate to offer something new, easy and cost-effective for the clients’.

We have seen this in practice as well. It has been a year since UK-headquartered Barclays launched a new integrated online direct investing platform combining its online

banking and investment services. The platform has one fee and one trans-

action charge, and would be free from com-mon charges including exit fees, reinvesting dividends and probate valuations. It has no minimum investment amount.

Swiss private banking giant, UBS launched SmartWealth earlier in 2017 via which peo-ple with investable assets of GBP15,000 can become customers. Even though usage fees are high, this is a drastic departure from their $1m in investable assets entry point so far.

In early April, Coutts launched Coutts Invest, an online investment platform, that allows access to a suite of five passive risk-rated portfolios. The service enables clients to invest with an initial lump sum, starting as low as £500.

Charles Schwab in the US has its new hybrid offering, Schwab Intelligent Advisory, combining advice from financial advisers with online advice to target mass affluent investors. The service requires minimum investment of $25,000, and offers clients a customised financial plan and ongoing live advice from certified financial planners, as well as an automated portfolio at a low cost.

These platforms are steps in the right direction. With competition between banks getting tougher and profit margins being squeezed, private banks need to evolve according to market and client demands to gain more wallet share.

Ultimately, hybrid models are about com-bining the best of both worlds, giving clients more choice and enriching those valued rela-tionships. And from what all the PBI events in June have highlighted, hybrid models are certainly feeling the love from private banks, fintech firms and customers alike.

Meghna [email protected]

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Schroders launches US-focused wealth management business

Schroders has unveiled a new London-based wealth management business that will target high net worth US clients living in the UK and North America. The new unit, Schroders Wealth Management (US), will sit alongside the fund manager’s UK wealth management arm, Cazenove Capital.

Schroders said the new business will focus on internationally minded US investors, and will help it to cater more effectively to US expa-triates living in the UK. A third-party custodian will offer banking and custody services.

The team at Schroders’ new operation will be led by Martin Heale, who will take the new role in August 2017. Heale joins from RBC, where he was MD in the Americas private wealth team. His other previous roles include head of private wealth management at Klein-wort Benson, and UK team head at Barclays Private Bank.

Mary-Anne Daly will be CEO of the new business, in addition to her responsibilities as CEO at Cazenove Capital.“We have a long experience of managing US

clients resident in the UK, and are fully famil-iar with their complex investment and report-ing requirements. The recruitment of such an experienced individual as Martin reinforces our commitment to serving US clients, includ-ing those living in the US,” Daly noted.

Wells Fargo launches new investment-grade credit fundWells Fargo Asset Management has announced the launch of a new UCITS-compliant investment-grade credit fund for institutional and retail investors.

The Luxembourg-domiciled EUR Invest-ment Grade Credit Fund is a sub-fund of the Wells Fargo (Lux) Worldwide Fund, and will have over €100m ($114m) in assets at launch.

It will combine fundamental credit research and top-down allocation decisions to help investors gain access to European investment-grade credit, and will target high-er returns than those provided by the govern-ment bond market.

As well as Luxembourg, it will also be available in France, Spain, Switzerland, Aus-tria, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Nether-lands, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the UK.

The fund will be managed by Henrietta Pacquement and Alex Temple of ECM Asset Management, which will act as sub-adviser to the fund.“We see extensive opportunities in the cur-

rent climate of European credit markets, and believe ECM’s seasoned team is well posi-tioned to generate risk-adjusted returns for our investors.

“Our pioneering work in the European investment-grade space means that we bring significant knowledge and experience to our fund management,” Pacquement said.

Breakaway UBS team launches independent advisory business

A team of advisors has broken away from UBS to launch an independent financial advi-sory firm and joined the Dynasty Financial Partners network.

The new business, Procyon Partners, is based in Connecticut and employs 10 staff. It was launched by Phil Fiore, Jeff Farrar, Lou Gloria, Tom Gahan and Chris Foster, who were previ-ously partners at the FDG Group at UBS. The team formerly oversaw over $8bn in institu-tional assets and over $400m in private assets on a non-discretionary and discretionary basis.

Procyon will now operate under two Regis-tered Investment Advisors – one for investment consulting practice and the other for personal wealth management group.“As a team with vast experience in partnering

with institutions and high net worth families, we are pleased to launch Procyon Partners.“We are positioning our new wealth manage-

ment firm for future growth, and have formed our firm to better align our services with the ever-evolving needs of our clients,” Fiore noted.

Dynasty will offer analytics and operational support for the business.

Bordier & Cie opens new offices in coastal BrittanySwiss private bank Bordier & Cie has expanded its presence in France by opening new offices in Brest and Rennes.

The launch of the new offices on France’s west coast is part of Bordier & Cie (France)’s strategy to provide personalised asset man-agement, and legal and tax advice to clients.

The bank has hired Bernard Bergot from Luxembourg private bank KBL Richelieu to lead its Brest office. He will also be responsi-ble for the wider Brittany region. Bergot pre-viously also worked at CIC Banque Privée and Crédit Agricole in Finistère.

The Rennes office will be led by Philippe Le Guernevé, who is also joining the firm from KBL Richelieu. He will also become deputy director of the Brittany region.

Commenting on the move, Bordier & Cie (France) MD Christophe Burtin, said: “We

are very pleased to announce this establish-ment in Brittany, which marks our desire to strengthen the proximity with our customers and the acceleration of our growth in France by an investment effort in the region.”

Indosuez in talks to buy CIC’s private banking activitiesIndosuez Wealth Management, the private banking unit of French banking group Crédit Agricole, has started exclusive negotiations to acquire the Singapore and Hong Kong pri-vate banking operations of Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC).

Indosuez said the deal aligns with its plan to speed up growth in key markets, as part of its Shaping Indosuez 2020 project.

Indosuez CEO Paul de Leusse said: “Together we would strengthen our geo-graphical footprint and our commercial offering whilst maintaining the highest com-pliance standards.“Our financial knowledge of Asia, our

efficient logistic platform and the strength of a large group enable us to provide tailor-made solutions to families and entrepreneurs whose needs are becoming increasingly sophisticated.”

The deal is expected to complete by the end of 2017, subject to regulatory approvals. Indosuez expects the deal to have a negative effect below two basis points on the common equity tier-one ratio of Crédit Agricole SA and Crédit Agricole Group.

REYL Group forms partnership to move into art lendingSwiss financial services group REYL Group has joined with art advisory business Link Management to launch Griffin Art Partners, a Luxembourg-based securitisation platform focused on art lending.

Griffin will offer one-to-three-year loans against artwork for a minimum amount of €1m; in exchange, borrowers will be required to store the artwork with a third-party depository or a free port.

Artwork covered by the platform may range from old masters to contemporary art, and will need to comply with strict eligibility criteria, REYL said.

The platform will be available in jurisdic-tions including Switzerland, Luxembourg and the UK. REYL Private Office (Luxem-bourg) will be responsible for managing the platform, and will also serve as bondholder representative.

Link Management director Aymeric Thu-ault said: “Griffin Art Partners endeavours to become one of the leading independent art lenders in Europe by offering a competitive and flexible non-recourse financing solution for art professionals and collectors.”<

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ANALYSISPrivate Banker International

Come what May? Wealth managers react to “unexpected” outcome of UK electionThe UK general election result announced on the morning of 9 June 2017 leading to a hung government has been deemed market unfriendly, as the sterling has weakened and volatility is hitting the financial markets. Wealth managers give PBI their initial reactions

The UK general election results leading to a hung parliament are not as the markets expected. The Conservative party secured 318 seats, while the

Labour party got 261 in the 8 June gen-eral elections. Prime Minister Theresa May is forming a government with the help of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUM) despite many in the Labour and Conservative camps calling for her res-ignation.

This ‘Tory defeat’ has brought more uncer-tainty to the British political sphere causing the pound to suffer by 2%, initially, against the euro (EUR) and the dollar (USD).

Several players in the wealth management industry agree that there are unpredictable times ahead. Bill Street, head of investment for EMEA at State Street Global Advisors – part of asset manager State Street Corpora-tion, said: “While sterling weakened in the final weeks of the election campaign, mar-kets still expected a Conservative majority, thus this initial sterling weakness is no sur-prise and is likely to continue as international investors demand a higher risk premium.“Sterling is already substantially under-

valued against the USD and EUR, reflecting future uncertainties. Such under-valuations do tend to correct over long time horizons and it is possible the election result will lead to a softer Brexit. However, any move higher is likely to be delayed until there is certainty.”

Street expects the initial risk-off market reaction will drive gilt yields sharply lower.

“Over the short term, we believe that this move will continue as political uncertainty reigns supreme. However, the emergence of a Labour-led coalition could trigger a bear-ish environment for gilt yields. As the market prices in campaign promises of fiscal stimu-lus and a softer-Brexit, we believe that gilt yields could be on course for a sustained upward move over the medium term.”

Monica Defend, head of global asset allo-cation research at investment firm Pioneer Investments, said that they “do not consider sterling to be attractive”.“We consider the inflation linked bond

market to be too dear, as it strongly benefits from the demand of local defined benefit

pension funds due to current legislation; any change to this could put pressure on linkers. We prefer Japanese and European linkers.

“We like European equities — without a specific bias to the UK market — and we pre-fer European and Japanese equities to the US, as we expect the boost from reflation poli-cies could have more upside in these markets, where valuations are more appealing.”

Jason Hollands, managing director of investment management group Tilney, said that this result is “a market unfriendly out-come”. Hollands said: “Large FTSE 100 companies are of course highly sensitive to movements in the exchange rate because in aggregate over 70% of their earnings are derived outside of the UK. Therefore, the reaction from the FTSE 100 may largely reflect this rather than a direct verdict on the policy implications or the read across to the outlook for the domestic economy.“Investors will be scratching their heads to

game out whether the central scenario of a fragile, minority Conservative government makes a “hard” or “soft” Brexit more likely.“The key space to watch for market reac-

tion will be the more domestically orientated companies which are typically found within in the FTSE 250 and smaller end of the mar-ket. These bore the brunt of negative reac-tion in the initial aftermath of the Brexit ref-erendum and there could be renewed anxiety though this may be tempered by the reduced threat of corporation tax rises implied.”

Overall, geopolitical risk could weigh on financial assets, triggering volatility, says Defend. “The recent escalation of terror-ist attacks means that voters’ reactions and politicians’ actions are less predictable. We seek to manage potential spikes in volatility with hedging strategies and assets perceived as safe-haven, such as gold.”

Mark Phelps, AB global concentrated growth portfolio manager, added: “It seems likely that the bond and equity markets will see greater volatility, but outside of the politi-cal establishment, the result will probably be seen as confusing, but not necessarily chang-ing a great deal.“What is clear is that UK is divided, not

only over Brexit but also between the genera-

tions, between North and South and between the urban and rural areas.”

Caroline Simmons, deputy head UK investment office at UBS Wealth Manage-ment added: “Given the lack of clarity on domestic policy and the impact on the Brexit negotiations, we expect sterling to remain soft. This should remain supportive of the equity market, under a Conservative minor-ity outcome.“However, should the market focus on con-

cerns that a Conservative minority won’t last and that we may end up with a Labour-led parliament, then the currency related boost will be offset by concerns over the potential for increased corporate tax rates and nation-alisations of certain industries.”

In contrast, Christoph Riniker, head of equity strategy research at Swiss private banking group Julius Baer, thinks that this outcome could have a positive impact on international stocks.“The election results do not exactly reflect

the expectations encouraged by the polls. It is fair to say that the political uncertainty in the UK is rising again and thus might have implications for financial investments. The pound could weaken again, which in theory should have a positive impact on internation-ally-oriented UK stocks. While a clear major-ity in parliament would have had signalling effects, the upcoming hung parliament does less so. We stick to our neutral stance for the time being and reiterate our preference for the internationally oriented FTSE 100 over the domestic FTSE 250.”

Nigel Green, founder and CEO of finan-cial consultancy firm deVere Group, believes that this result will unleash mayhem across global financial markets, but sees some opportunities ahead.“Volatility can bring considerable opportu-

nities and investors should avoid knee jerk reactions at this time.” Green adds, however, that UK election result is a “hammer blow” for a hard Brexit. “The financial markets had almost already priced-in a hard Brexit and will now have to quickly reassess their position. As this adjustment takes place we can expect the uncertainty in the markets not only to continue but to intensify.” <

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Central market infrastructure providers have demonstrated that blockchain models and technology work. Now wealth managers and private banks

are getting more interested in engaging with the blockchain.

Wealth managers and private banks are increasingly keen on identifying the best use-cases for blockchain, according to industry experts.

Javier Paz, senior analyst at Aite Group, says:“Several of Aite Group’s wealth man-agement clients are interested in learning more about the blockchain, without dis-closing names. They are looking at the blockchain purely for efficiency reasons rather than for strategic opportunities. For them, the blockchain is for practical imple-mentations to reduce their overheads, and end users would never know they are using blockchain behind the scenes.”

Some interesting initiatives have already emerged, one being Northern Trust’s devel-opment with IBM of blockchain, or distrib-uted ledger technology, for the private equity market. The technology is initially being used to manage the administration of a pri-vate equity fund run by Swiss asset-manage-ment business Unigestion.

Paz, who has authored several in-depth reports about various aspects of blockchain in wealth management, wrote in a blog:

“Northern Trust carries out administrative functions for multiple private equity funds. These have unique life-cycles, complicated structures, and documents and ‘artifacts’ exchanged by parties using unique rules and permissions. The manual nature of this administrative work imposes time delays and a variety of costs to all parties…“While custom-built to serve Unigestion’s

needs, Northern Trust’s blockchain imple-mentation will serve additional private equi-ty clients over time. Northern Trust will con-trol who is permissioned and for what access. The use of broadcast channels will distribute ledger information to the nodes that are per-missioned to receive it. “This planned solution will replace manual

processes, not a system, but will modify how the private equity life cycle occurs for the various participants, while adding yet-to-be-disclosed extensibility benefits.”

Steve Webb, PwC’s Partner for Banking and Capital Markets Consulting, says several blockchain initiatives have been announced around fund management distribution plat-forms. “For example, BNP Paribas Securities Services has teamed with Axa Investment Managers to develop a blockchain-based fund distribution platform to improve infor-mation flow between fund buyers and sellers.”

The global funds transaction network Calastone announced, in mid-June, the suc-cessful completion of the first phase of its dis-tributed market infrastructure proof-of-con-cept to test the feasibility of using blockchain to develop a common global marketplace for the trading and settlement of mutual funds.

In April 2017, Broadridge Financial Solu-tions, JP Morgan, Northern Trust and Banco Santander completed a blockchain pilot to enhance global proxy vote transparency and analytics. “The blockchain helps solve the difficulty of people participating in proxy voting,” says Paz.

In the US, John Hancock Financial’s Laboratory of Forward Thinking is testing the blockchain for on-boarding new wealth management clients with ConsenSys and Blockapps.

A growing number of private banks are

analysing opportunities the blockchain could bring to their business, including bitcoin inte-gration, shared know your customer (KYC) duties, and pension funds.

Arushi Srivastava, senior director, Digital and Cloud Services at NTT Data says: “We have US wealth management clients who are trying out initial use cases for blockchain in asset management.”

Annabel Spring, group executive, wealth management at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), told the 2017 APAC Block-chain Conference in Sydney that the block-chain’s potential is “enormous” and CBA is

“experimenting with it every day”. “We’re looking at where the manual pro-

cesses are, where multiple hand-offs are, and where the siloed data that requires reconcili-ations, exists. We are testing the benefits of making immutable transactions transparent; of digitally connecting and automating trans-actions between counterparties; of creating a single source of truth to alleviate the pain of inter-organisation processes and counter-party risk. “We’re exploring how this could play out in

terms of removing inefficiencies and risk for all participants in the global wealth manage-ment marketplace.”

KYC and identity management According to Brian Lincoln, IBM’s Wealth

Management Solutions Lead, there is huge interest in being able to improve the whole process around KYC and identity verifica-tion, “as these can be painful for HNWIs and UHNWIs”.

Keith Bear, VP, Global Financial Markets at IBM, agrees, saying: “We have been see-ing activity in KYC blockchain implemen-tations in the sell-side, and there’s potential

Given the blockchain’s potential to both disrupt and enhance processes and systems, there is undoubtedly growing interest among wealth management firms in using the blockchain to improve customer experience and cut inefficiencies. Industry experts talk to Robin Arnfield about where blockchain’s attraction and potential use-cases lie

Is blockchain set to make an ‘immutable’ mark in wealth management?

BLOCKCHAIN Private Banker InternationalFEAT

URE

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FEAT

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for wealth managers and private bankers to implement the blockchain for KYC and iden-tity management.”

Will Trout, Celent’s head of wealth man-agement research, says there is a lot happen-ing in terms of blockchain-based identity verification. The UK’s Everledger, for exam-ple, is using blockchain to register diamonds.“This process can be quickly extended to

human beings with biometrics registered on the blockchain, but it needs to be accepted by the various bank blockchain consortia, such as R3, as an acceptable verification method,” he notes.

Client-onboarding – a notoriously cumber-some area for private banks – could benefit from the blockchain. Philippe Meyer, manag-ing director of private banking software firm Avaloq’s Edinburgh-based R&D centre, says:

“On-boarding clients is increasingly expen-sive and most customers have multiple banks to reduce their counterparty risk. Sharing the on-boarding KYC data between banks could help limit costs. The biggest advantage the blockchain brings is eliminating the need for reconciliation. As everyone shares the same information, there is no need any more to reconcile the different transaction databases.”

Blockchain provides immutability, which is interesting for proof-of-ownership or for KYC data, says Meyer.

However, the challenge is to bring all the participants onto the same architec-ture. “The blockchain makes full sense when shared among a number of participants, aligning them onto the same infrastructure will be challenging,” he adds.

Lincoln says that, for regulatory reasons, using the blockchain for KYC/identity verifi-cation internally within a bank is much easier than across multiple banks. “For example, when an existing retail banking client has an opportunity to upgrade to private bank-ing, the blockchain could be used to leverage information that has already been captured and streamline the on-boarding process.”

Longer term, Trout sees huge opportuni-ties for end clients for blockchain-based self-service analytics and reporting data ‘on the fly’. “Since they would not rely on intermedi-aries to provide these functions, they would

access the data directly. Likewise, block-chain-based smart contracts could serve as a starting point for new types of products, such as ETF-like baskets of stocks built off smart contracts. But this is at least a decade away,” he adds.

Attraction of blockchain The central market infrastructure providers, for instance the exchanges, the Central Secu-rities Depositories, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., have taken the first moves with the blockchain in financial services. A key reason for this is that the blockchain is a way to do things at lower cost, for example in credit default swaps, or to facilitate new business models.

Steve Krieger, Pictet Group’s project direc-tor, says blockchain’s promise of faster, cost-efficient transactions with a reduced risk of errors attracts private banks’ attention. “For us, fund distribution and OTC securi-

ties transactions provide attractive use-cases. While still at an explanatory stage, we’re par-ticipating in consortia to develop joint proto-types for fund distribution, and have started to experiment on small internal prototypes in the OTC space to get first-hand experience. “Agreeing on common standards for dif-

ferent institutions involved in the ecosystem takes time, and there is little clarity on many business cases related to the blockchain. We expect that clear business cases will emerge in the near future on specific use-cases, which will accelerate developments,” he says.

Chris Owen, vice president, blockchain at Canada’s TD Bank Group, says part of blockchain’s appeal is its ability to settle transactions in seconds or minutes automati-cally via computers. “It is a potentially more secure settlement process than what is used today among financial institutions, where clearing houses and other third-parties vali-date accounts and identities over a few days.”

However, there are still tough challenges to work through, including technological, business and political aspects, says Owen. “As it pertains specifically to TD’s Wealth

business, we’re currently conducting a review of those processes that would be most posi-tively impacted using blockchain technology.

The blockchain is a technology that we are looking at very closely.”

Assets agenda With the blockchain creating the ‘Internet

of Value’, Meyer says the increasing develop-ment of digital assets across most industries can be expected. “We see proof-of-owner-ship blockchain systems being created for assets such as diamonds, real-estate, and cars,” he says.“As the blockchain evolved from bitcoin,

regulators have been hesitant to support the blockchain. But they have now understood that the blockchain brings the transparency they require, in particular for OTC transac-tions. We expect that regulators will become core stakeholders in the development of dis-tributed ledger technologies going forward.”

As has already been demonstrated by Northern Trust and IBM’s initiative, to name one, private equity also “lends itself very well to the blockchain”, says Lincoln. “There is a lot of complexity in private

equity with a lot of entities involved, and it’s an inefficient process with a poor user experience. From a risk/audit perspective, there tends to be regulatory concerns about whether the institution is selling to accred-ited investors. “It also needs to demonstrate it has robust

processes that ensure all the necessary docu-ments were on file in advance of the client subscribing to the private equity and that it provided the appropriate disclosures. These concerns are addressed by the blockchain,” says Lincoln.

There is no doubt that now is the time to think about the blockchain’s place in wealth management. “Firms also realise that, if they are looking to invest in their core systems now, they should be factoring in the block-chain,” adds Lincoln.

Private banks and wealth managers are certainly not ignoring this technology, though many have been taking the ‘wait and watch’ approach so far.” However, as CBA’s Spring said at the conference in Sydney: “It is in wealth management where we can really make transformational change by simplify-ing the complexity.” <

BLOCKCHAINPrivate Banker International

n TOP FIVE USE CASES FOR THE BLOCKCHAIN IN WEALTH MANAGEMENT

1 Shared reference data sources

2 Regulatory reporting

3 Collateral asset tracking across sources and uses

4 Automatic execution of margin calls at central counterparties

5 Legacy infrastructure integration and decommissioning

Source: Arushi Srivastava, Senior Director, Digital and Cloud Services NTT Data

n WHICH MILESTONES MUST BLOCKCHAIN PASS BEFORE BROAD ADOPTION WOULD BE POSSIBLE AT YOUR ORGANISATION?

Technology standards

Interoperability with legacy systems

Successful proof of concept

Demonstrated ability tohandle volume, resiliency, etc.

Security

Technology standards 70%

80%

30%

60%

50%

30%

Source: 2016 EY Blockchain Capital Markets Roundtable

PBI 345.indd 5 10/07/2017 10:32:06


TOP 25 PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGERS Private Banker International

At a time when profit margins are being squeezed and private banks are struggling with a low-interest-rate environment, the results from

the Global Private Wealth Managers AuM Ranking reveal that there is still reason to be optimistic.

The research project undertaken by GlobalData Financial Services and Private Banker International reveals that assets under management (AuM) for the world’s 25 largest private wealth managers grew by 5.5% in 2016, in comparison to a growth rate of 2.9% in 2015.

The 2016 Global Private Wealth Managers AuM Ranking revealed some usual winners alongside some unexpected movers. Swiss private banking giant UBS continued to head up the list, with AuM exceeding $2trn.

There was no movement among the first five positions on the list from last year’s ranking, with US-headquartered Bank of America Merrill Lynch ($886.15bn) and Morgan Stanley ($877bn) taking second and third position respectively.

Credit Suisse ($719bn) and JP Morgan Pri-vate Bank ($435bn) also stood firm in their fourth and fifth positions.

Citi Private Bank ($389bn) slipped one position, landing in seventh place while Goldman Sachs ($413bn) jumped up by one rank to sixth.

Bartosz Golba, GlobalData’s head of con-tent for wealth management, predicts that the two US giants might switch places next year.

“While Bank of America’s AuM decreased for the second consecutive year, Morgan Stanley recorded double-digit growth,” he says.“Growth was even faster in the division

catering for high net worth (HNW) individu-als at Goldman Sachs, which overtook Citi Private Bank.”

Big winners and losersSome banks made notable jumps upwards through the ranking.

China Merchants Bank missed out on the top 10, with an AuM of $238.96bn at the end of 2016, but landed in 11th place. This is move up three places in the ranking from the previous year’s list.

With an exemplary focused growth strat-egy, China Merchants Bank lead the Chinese market, even though it ranked well behind the top five in the domestic retail banking market, according to the research.

Andrew Haslip, GlobalData’s finan-cial head of content for Asia-Pacific, said:

“Despite a smaller footprint on the mainland, China Merchants Bank’s focus on helping affluent Chinese internationalise their wealth has fuelled its growth.“The 2017 expansion of its private bank

in Singapore still needs to be seen through the lens of its mainland strategy, giving its Chinese clients more options in Asia’s private wealth management capital.”

Other Chinese banks such as Bank of China (BOC) demonstrated strong perfor-mance by solidifying it’s place in the top 20

, taking 19th position ($143.99bn in AuM), with a three-place jump.

RBC Wealth Management experienced a strong move up through the ranks – five-plac-es – to reach 21st position with $139.92bn in AuM at the end of 2016.

On the other hand, although the industry registered an overall growth in 2016, some players saw their asset books shrink remark-ably, with HSBC Private Bank and Deutsche Bank Wealth Management not even present in the top 10 ranking.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management slipped four places, reaching 13th place in

The world’s 25 largest private wealth managers grew their AuM by 5.5% in 2016, as compared to a growth rate of 2.9% in the previous year, according to new research by GlobalData and Private Banker International. PBI reveals who these top global players are, and delves into what they are doing right

Aces high: The world’s top 25 private wealth managers ranked

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TOP 25 PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGERSPrivate Banker International

the most recent ranking. The business has been through numerous changes in the last couple of years. A fundamental restruc-ture of its business units and management that took place in October 2015 came into effect in January 2016, leading to the bank’s wealth management division currently sitting within the Private, Wealth and Commercial Clients division.

There continue to be profitability issues at group level at Deutsche Bank, weaken-ing the wealth business. In September 2016 Deutsche Bank and Raymond James also finalised the sale of the former’s US private client services unit, which employs roughly 200 advisors managing $50bn in client assets.

HSBC Private Bank also saw its global position slide, ranking at 14th position with AuM of $222bn at the end of 2016.

All eyes on AsiaMore Asian private banks, with an increas-ing international focus, are expected to join the top ranks of global private wealth man-agers in the coming years.

Even though many of them did not make it through to the global top 25 this year, these

Asia-headquartered private banks have been consistently making international inroads by launching new offices in Europe and taking inorganic growth routes.

Meghna Mukerjee, editor of Private Banker International, said: “The Asia-Pacif-ic region, which saw much M&A activity in

2016 and will see more in 2017, is where we expect new top international wealth manag-ers to emerge. “Banks such as DBS Private Bank and

OCBC’s Bank of Singapore, which have been bulking up significantly through acquisitions, are the ones to watch in the future.” <

Methodology• The ranking captures the AuM of private

banking and wealth management operations of the world’s leading competitors. The data was collected from competitors’ publicly available materials, such as annual reports and financial statements, or from contacts in relevant organizations.

• The definition of AuM differs between wealth managers. To ensure figures are comparable, the data underwent a standardisation process, with the aim of capturing assets held with a provider for investment purposes by private clients, under the beneficial ownership of the client.

• Figures exclude assets held only in custody, as well as pure asset management operations. Where no detailed breakdown of AuM was provided by a competitor, a model was used to estimate the most accurate data.

• The AuM data was collected in competitors’ reporting currencies. Where this is not US dollars, data was converted using the 2016 end-year exchange rate.

• Rankings and data from the previous years are available from GlobalData and Private Banker International.

• GlobalData’s Wealth Management Competitor Analytics is an interactive tool that benchmarks the AuM and financial performance of 33 leading global wealth managers. It is available to subscribers to GlobalData’s Financial Services Intelligence Center.

n 2016 GLOBAL PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGERS AUM RANKING

Rank Competitor AUM ($bn) 2015–16 rank change

1 UBS 2,069.41 =

2 Bank of America Merrill Lynch 886.15 =

3 Morgan Stanley 877 =

4 Credit Suisse 719.05 =

5 JP Morgan 435 =

6 Goldman Sachs 413 1

7 Citi Private Bank 389.7 -1

8 BNP Paribas 361.98 =

9 Julius Baer 323.77 1

10 Northern Trust 248.4 2

11 China Merchants Bank 238.96 3

12 Wells Fargo 231 1

13 Deutsche Bank Wealth Management 227.29 -4

14 HSBC Private Bank 222 -3

15 Santander 192.2 1

16 Pictet 180.5 1

17 ABN Amro 178.34 -2

18 ICBC 174.23 =

19 Bank of China 143.99 3

20 Crédit Agricole 143.84 -1

21 RBC Wealth Management 139.92 5

22 J Safra Sarasin 131.55 -2

23 Bank of Montreal 126.2 1

24 Société Générale 122.06 -3

25 Lombard Odier 116.74 -2

Source: GlobalData’s Wealth Management Competitor Analytics

PBI 345.indd 7 10/07/2017 10:32:11


The rise of digital technology in private banking has now clearly manifested itself as either a front-office tool, for clients to micro-manage their portfo-

lios via the internet, or a back-office tool for tasks involving data.

Many speakers at the PBI London Confer-ence and Awards 2017, however, addressed not the current threats and opportunities, but ones that have not yet materialised.

Many of the talks borrowed metaphors from successful tech companies (“the Uber-moment for private banking” was heard one too many times), while others took passages from Harari on human-bionics and some went on to mention flying cars, predicting an age where private banking as we know it will be redundant.

While automation changes the face of private banking on a daily basis, this article examines the possibility of a ‘peak digital’ moment in private banking.

Already evident in other industries, the ideal of peak-digital presupposes a limit to digital disruption, where technological inno-vation is severed not by science but consum-er demand. Private banking is an industry which, more than most, is shaped by con-sumer or customer demand. Will it too see the dawn of peak digital?

The first rumours of a peak digital moment came two years ago from within the pub-lishing industry. Forever forewarned about e-readers – Kindles and the like – publishers were astonished when, in 2015, digital book sales fell from £563m ($728m) to £554m in the preceding year, as physical book sales rose from £2.74bn to £2.76bn for the UK.

Following these figures were a string of announcements from the high street: Ama-zon has opened its first bricks-and-mortar bookshop, and traditional chains Water-stones and Foyle’s have both returned to profit after years in the red.

If the publishing industry is a case study for digital reversal, in which consumers fall back to old technology as the novelty of the new passes, the music industry is a window into a world beyond technology.

At the turn of the millennium, digital con-demned vinyls, cassettes and CDs to the inte-riors of East London bars as any profit in their sales collapsed.

Now overwhelmed with musical choice online, consumers are instead clamouring for the intimacy and closeness lost in pre-record-ed music, but found in live performances. Fans do not just want to listen to music, but they want to experience it.

Live is the new digital, as concerts and festivals flourish in every corner of the coun-try, appealing to all age groups. This is post-digital – a world that can never be replaced with a virtual reality headset or Facebook live video feed.

While private bankers might struggle to take a leaf out of Michael Eavis’s book, they can certainly learn from the marketing of such experiences. Like bookstores before them, travel agencies were once abandoning the high street in droves as their customers turned to the internet for their holidays.

Travel agencies are now making something of a comeback: Kuoni is growing its number of high street stores from two in 2008 to 66 this year, Abercrombie and Kent opened its first storefront in Harrods in 2009, and Scott Dunn now welcomes visitors into its Putney Bridge office in London.

Staffed with experienced advisors, these travel agencies are meeting a tide in demand for humanity in holidays. As Kuoni notes:

“[Customers] are coming into a store to speak to someone who can give them real insight and help guide them to the right holiday.”

As these are all high-end travel agencies, it would seem that the affluent traveller is increasingly prepared to pay for expert

advice and proper planning dispensed for-mally and face-to-face, not dissimilar to the average private banking client.

This approach to marketing and book-ing holidays is contrary to the data-first approach preached by marketers – not just at private banking conferences, but to all industries. Segmentation is the word of the day: Armed with the right data, companies can automate everything from marketing to product design.

However, one bank making a stand against this standardisation is Investec Private Bank with its #MoreThanData campaign. In a series of videos, Investec asks clients to read their own demographic and education data-profile before assessing whether it is correct. In every instance it is not, leading to Investec’s moral of the story that “it is impossible for cold data to tell us who they really are.”

Head of Investec’s private bank in South Africa, Deon Katz, says: “We take the time to get to know our clients personally and pro-fessionally and form long-term relationships with them. This enables us to personalise our products and services, and ultimately ensures an extraordinary client experience.”

Whether or not an over-reliance on data will lead to private banking’s peak digital moment, it would appear that some elements of the current trend of digital disruption are here to stay.

Just as online content complements the offline in the spheres of books, music and travel, digital platforms and applications are required to accompany traditional private banking services.

Fintech and technology companies will no doubt continue to steal market share from private banks. But convincing ourselves that all future threats will come from technol-ogy will serve only to distract us from the real threats. <

When will private banking reach peak digital?

At the recent annual PBI London Conference and Awards, the prevailing theme was, once again, the threat and opportunity posed by technology to private banking. However, other fields have found that the extent to which digital can replace human interaction may be finite, writes WealthInsight’s Oliver Williams

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A gold-standard reputation, socioeco-nomic stability and liberal immigra-tion policy have led to a significant amount of international wealth mak-

ing its way into Canada. The country is also experiencing a boom in its domestic wealthy numbers, giving private banks ample oppor-tunities to prosper.

The estimated 137,460 high net worth (HNW) Canadians with assets of at least $1m in 2016 are expected to grow to 171,150 by 2020, according to GlobalData.

The estimates are based on liquid wealth – cash deposits, bonds, equities and mutual funds – held onshore in Canada. HNW assets are also expected to grow from $490.19bn in 2016 to $613.06bn in 2020.

Understandably, global banks find Canada an attractive private banking hub. For HSBC, Canada is “one of the jewels in the crown”, according to Nader Guirguis, CEO of HSBC Private Wealth Services (Canada).“The country is attractive to us, as it’s a low-

risk environment with a stable economy that is attracting wealth and quality immigrants from around the world.”

Guirguis has over 25 years experience in the Canadian banking industry. In his current role, he leads HSBC’s HNW/UHNW investment counsellors and wealth planners. Over the last year, HSBC has expanded its investments in its Canadian retail banking and especially its wealth management businesses, says Guirguis.“There is huge interest in growing our Cana-

dian franchise in wealth and private banking by using HSBC’s global expertise to serve Canadian clients. We are leveraging the fact that we are the largest foreign-owned bank in Canada, and that we have a global network of wealth management analysts,” he says.

Since 1981, HSBC Canada has expanded by acquiring institutions such as Lloyds Bank Canada, an asset management firm, a trust company, Republic National Bank of New York (Canada), and Barclays Bank Canada.

In 2012, HSBC sold its Canadian full-service retail brokerage business to National Bank of Canada, but retains the HSBC Invest-Direct Canadian online brokerage.

As of 31 March 2017, HSBC Global Asset Management globally held assets under man-

agement (AuM) of $427.9bn. In Canada, HSBC held C$16.36bn ($12.35bn) in AuM, according to the bank

HSBC Canada’s retail banking and wealth management businesses benefited from AuM growth in the quarter to 31 March 2017. Guirguis notes: “HSBC Canada is investing heavily to double its private client base in the next three to four years, and double the size of our Canadian private banking business.”

Private client thresholdsTo qualify for HSBC Canada private client status, minimum investable assets of C$1m are needed. HSBC Canada offers Premier Banking services to customers with total rela-tionship balances of at least C$100,000.“Over 75% of our private clients in Canada

are current or retired business owners,” Guir-guis says. “The rest are professionals and senior executives of large corporations. Our commercial banking clients are the main con-duit for our private client base, and we make sure our clients’ transitions between our com-mercial banking and private client businesses are seamless.”

While including clients from resource-based industries such as oil, gas and mining, HSBC Canada’s private banking customers are diver-sified across all industry sectors. “Of course, there are regional variations – for example in provinces such as Alberta there are a lot of clients in oil and gas,” Guirguis says.

HSBC services private clients across Cana-da, but has four main private wealth manage-ment hubs – in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.“We service all the surrounding regions from

these hubs, and we will be opening more ded-icated HNW offices. “Our private client rela-tionship managers [RMs] also meet clients in many of our branches across Canada. We go to the client, rather than the client coming to us,” explains Guirguis.

HSBC Canada recently launched Jade by HSBC Premier, an invitation-only lifestyle and banking offering for the HNW space. “Jade comprises a dedicated team of experts who cater for HNW clients plus dedicated prod-ucts and services for this segment.“We will be opening Jade centres in Montre-

al, Calgary, Toronto and three in Vancouver,” says Guirguis.

Tripod modelHSBC serves private clients in Canada

through its Tripod model. Each private cli-ent has an RM who offers the full suite of products and services such as bank accounts, cash management, and more complex lending products. The RM is supported by an invest-ment counsellor who specialises in providing discretionary investment services along with estate planning and business succession plan-ning, and a wealth planner who makes recom-mendations to the client, says Guirguis.

Underlying this model, clients have a dedi-cated portfolio manager at HSBC Global Asset Management (Canada) that handles the day-to-day running of their investments.

Canada’s largest cities are experiencing significant real-estate market growth, due to Canada’s low-interest rate environment. “We help our clients with their real-estate invest-ments, for example through mortgage prod-ucts. We are seeing many clients diversity their holdings into real estate,” says Guirguis.

HSBC differentiates itself using its global investment and wealth management exper-tise, according to Guirguis. “We have HSBC global asset management offices in over 30 countries, and our analysts are geographically close to the companies in which we invest our clients’ funds. We do our own research, and have our own direct connections to the man-agement of these companies,” Guirguis notes.

HSBC Premier and private banking clients enjoy linked bank accounts globally, enabling them to move money in real time between HSBC accounts in different countries. HSBC Canada also attracts international customers who may be new immigrants to Canada, or who want to invest in Canada.“HSBC Canada is a natural conduit for

clients who want to diversify their interna-tional investments into the Canadian market or establish a foothold here. We regularly get referrals from other HSBC subsidiaries.“We also cater for the Canadian family

office market, and they are coming to us to leverage our global investment management expertise,” says Guirguis. <

Canada’s private wealth management market is a major opportunity, and HSBC is looking to double its Canadian private client business in the coming years. Robin Arnfield speaks to Nader Guirguis, CEO, HSBC Private Wealth Services (Canada)

HSBC aims to double its private banking business in Canada

PBI 345.indd 9 10/07/2017 10:32:20


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SOUTH AFRICA Private Banker International

An evolving market in turbulent times

The South African wealth market is influenced largely by the country’s political, economic and financial tur-moil. President Jacob Zuma has been

widely criticised in recent months, not only for failing to uphold the constitution when he ignored a state order to repay government funds used to restore his private home, but also for firing finance minister Pravin Gor-dhan in March 2017.

As a consequence of Gordhan’s dismissal, the rand fell by around 2%, and ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut South Africa’s credit rating to junk, citing “heightened political and institutional uncertainties”.

Despite this, the country’s financial mar-ket is the most developed in the continent, providing easy access to financial products when compared to neighbouring countries, according to GlobalData Financial Services’ latest country report.

However, the country’s wealth manage-ment market is far from mature, according to the Wealth in South Africa: HNW Inves-tors 2017 report published in May.

It is an evolving market, though, and presents significant opportunities to wealth managers as a large proportion of high net worth (HNW) wealth remains unmanaged. Around 21.5% of HNW investors, accord-ing to the report, do not have their assets managed by a wealth manager – double the global average – creating an opportunity for financial advisors to target this segment.

The South African HNW population is dominated by men aged 51 years or above. Approximately 43% of HNW investors have accumulated their wealth through earned income, in comparison to 23.3% of family business owners and 21.8% of first-genera-tion entrepreneurs.

With an aging HNW population, 99.1% of wealth managers experience strong demand for pension planning services. The pension offered by the South African government is far from satisfactory for the HNW popula-tion, and most individuals seek alternative ways to prepare for their retirement.

Moreover, the country’s wealth market experiences high demand for pension plan-ning advice among UK expatriates, who

account for 65.6% of the South African HNW expatriate population.

Unsurprisingly, demand for pension planning services will continue to increase. According to the report, demand for finan-cial planning services is – and will also con-tinue to be – strong, with 74.2% of wealth managers believing that the need for such services will rise in the next two years.

There are several reasons behind the rise in overall demand for professional wealth man-agement services in South Africa.

Lack of expertise is the main reason (34.7%) for South African HNWIs to have assets professionally managed, according to the report. As most come from the manu-facturing, property and real estate sectors, these HNWIs tend to be less familiar with the financial services sector. These HNWIs also want to gain access to a range of more sophisticated investments (23.3%), which further drives the demand for professional wealth management services.

Investors who lack financial market knowledge gain from choosing discretionary mandates, as they require less management from the client. The South African wealth market is dominated by discretionary asset management services (52.8%). Despite this, around 70% of the industry participants interviewed for the GlobalData report pre-dict increased demand for advisory mandates.

Advisers should promote their professional knowledge and experience to attract clients.

Building new advisory models with the help of integrated digital services will prove to be advantageous, as demand for auto-mated investment services is also set to rise among cost-conscious consumers.

Growth in demand for digital platforms will help clients manage a small proportion of wealth at a lower cost, as 26.4% of wealth managers believe that self-directing clients invest a proportion of wealth independently because they want to avoid management fees.

This suggests that wealth managers will have to find alternative services to accommo-date the needs of this digitally aware popula-tion, and a transparent cost structure is vital to avoid losing clients to execution-only pro-viders, even though they account for a small percentage of the HNW portfolio.

Property investments are expected to remain an important part of the typical HNW portfolio, according to GlobalDa-ta’s 2016 Global Wealth Managers Survey. Although only 11.5% of South African HNW portfolios are allocated to this asset class, GlobalData believes it will experience a strong rise over the next 12 months.

Nominal house price growth is predicted to slow as foreign investors’ confidence has been hurt by the country’s political and eco-nomic situation, leaving room for future price-appreciation opportunities.

In addition, with rental income being the main driver of property investments and interest rates at their highest in six years, more people will be forced to rent, therefore increasing rental income opportunities.

Equities will continue to account for the largest segment of the HNW portfolio, with 46.7% of HNW investors’ assets allocated to this class, in comparison to 37.8% globally, according to the GlobalData report.

According to a study by Credit Suisse and the London Business School, South Africa has the best-performing equity market – pro-viding a 7.2% average return over a century.

However, the market is also subject to significant instability, with the JSE Index returning 8% in 2014, -1% in 2015, and 3% in 2016. <

n EARNED INCOME IS THE MAIN SOURCE OF WEALTH FOR SOUTH AFRICA’S HNW INVESTORS

0

10

20

30

40

50

Earned income

Family busin

ess

ownership

First-g

eneration

entrepreneursh

ip

%

Global South Africa

Inheritane

Other

Source: GlobalData’s 2016 Global Wealth Managers Survey

South Africa is set to experience a strong rise in demand for professional wealth management over the next two years. However, with 68.5% of the country’s HNW population aged above 50, pension and financial planning services will be the most popular. Vania Goncalves finds out more from a recent GlobalData report

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PBI LONDON CONFERENCE 2017Private Banker International

The fourth Private Banker International London Conference 2017 took place at the Waldorf Astoria on 8 June.

The four sessions at the all-day con-ference were dotted with speakers from some of the world’s biggest private banks and technology vendors, including Credit Suisse, Kleinwort Hambros, UBS, Avaloq and App-way – just to mention a few.

Diverse themes were explored throughout the day, with speakers and panellists discuss-ing, among other topics, the key opportuni-ties and challenges in the industry, the grow-ing demand for digitalisation, the influence of artificial intelligence (AI), the evolving needs and behaviours of wealthy clients, and the future of London as a key wealth hub.

The conference began with an opening key-note speech by Paul Kearney of Kleinwort Hambros.

Kearney said he is a “survivor of the consolidation” in the industry, recalling Kleinwort Benson’s acquisition by Société Générale Private Banking.

On the evolving private banking landscape, Kearney said: “We appear to be on the brink of a new dawn, the realisation of AI,” adding that familiar jargon is being supplanted by

“daily active users, activation lengths, virality, [and] red traffic potential, as we are rushing headlong to become more digital”.

Kearney also highlighted the need to “pay careful attention” to what “our digital strat-egy is”, and that not all innovation is good innovation. “The challenge of choosing the right strategy seems to me to hinge on two dilemmas, both the direction of the innova-tion and the speed.”

The second presentation came from Avaloq’s Francisco Fernandez, who spoke about the power of disruption and the rise of AI. He said Avaloq is “promoting disruption as any other player in the financial industry” and that disruption cannot be stopped.“I think we can do something against disrup-tion – what I call self-disruption,” he added

On the innovation point, Fernandez sug-gested that many fintech ideas might be ille-gal at the beginning, but they will become legal later on, as regulators “don’t want to kill innovation”.

Fernandez added that it is crucial to have a “deep understanding” of customer behaviour. Considering the attitudes of millennials, he said that according to a recent study, 71% of millennials would rather go to the dentist than listen to the banker.

Fernandez suggested that AI is on the rise and “will outperform tasks done by invest-ment officers and portfolio managers today”, and added that banks will not be able to solve all the problems in-house.“If we don’t collaborate, if we don’t open

up, we cannot be fast enough,” he added. Dena Brumpton of Barclays Wealth &

Investment Management delivered the ses-sion’s third presentation.

She spoke about the importance of keep-ing up with the evolving needs of clients, say-ing the next generation of wealthy clients will demand an immediate, transparent, techno-logically friendly and unique service and that achieving those four goals is going to be chal-lenging. She added: “Young or old, the buy-ing behaviour of our client base is changing.”

Clients are now interested in the impact of their investment decisions, said Brump-ton, suggesting that the industry will have to address this in the future.

Brumpton also said: “The biggest disrup-tion for us as an industry is going to come from data availability and APIs.”

The fourth presentation came from Clau-dio de Sanctis of Credit Suisse, who spoke about the needs of the next generation.

The fourth Private Banker International London Conference 2017 on 8 June brought together professionals and experts from the private banking and wealth management industry to discuss key issues and themes that are influencing, shaping, and impacting the sector. Vania Goncalves provides an overview of the day

1: The evolving private banking landscape and London’s status in 2017Panel members and speakers:

• Paul Kearney, MD, Kleinwort Hambros

• Francisco Fernandez, founder and CEO, Avaloq

• Dena Brumpton, CEO, Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, (speaker only)

• Claudio de Sanctis, head of private banking Europe, Credit Suisse

Moderator:

• Meghna Mukerjee, editor, Private Banker International

London’s future as a key wealth hub in a post-Brexit world: Conference report

y Paul Kearney, Kleinwort Hambros , y Dena Brumpton, Barclays W&IM y Claudio de Sanctis,, Credit Suisse

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De Sanctis explained that by listening to what his own children would expect from their “ideal private bank”, it is obvious that the next generation is different.

He added: “In the next 20-30 years, there is going to be $41trn of wealth moving from one generation to another.”

He added that he was shocked to find out that the “92% of young adults who inherit money from their parents, change bank.”

De Sanctis went on to talk about the importance of orchestrating relevant net-works for the next generation of clients, and also discussed the Young Investor Organisa-tion (YIO) community that Credit Suisse cre-ated 10 years ago.

The first panel discussion, chaired by PBI editor Meghna Mukerjee, drilled deeper into the topics discussed during the presentations.

On the dynamics of the Kleinwort Ham-bros merger, Kearney said he was nervous about the two organisations coming together. However, he added: “The cultures of the two firms were remarkably similar, and we were quick in bringing the two teams together to the same location.”

The conversation touched upon the cur-rent challenges private banks are facing. Fer-nandez said: “The hurdles are often within the organisations, because they love what they have and try to protect their existing assets. I say this is not good enough.”

Commenting on the challenges and advan-tages of networks, De Sanctis said: “The advantage is survival; the disadvantage is the loss of control.”

During the audience Q&A session, a ques-tion posed to the panel was: “In this chang-ing environment, how do you know whether you are up with the curve, ahead of the curve or behind the curve as an organisation?”

De Sanctis said: “The problem with digi-talisation and disruption is that disruption happens so fast. By the time you are getting the feedback you are behind the curve and it may be too late to correct it.“So, in that sense I do fear that we are all a

bit behind, and we just need to do our best to remain competitive.”

Fernandez added: “If you ask me, I always feel behind the curve; that is why we are probably ahead”.

Richard Parkin of Fidelity International opened the second session, talking about pension drawdown and clients’ goals.

Parkin said one of the big mistakes in the UK is to talk about income drawdown as a single product. He added that Fidelity cat-egorises people who use drawdown by goals: those who want to take their money out of

2: Servicing today’s clients – identifying their needs and preferencesPanel members and speakers:

• Richard Parkin, head of pensions policy, Fidelity International

• René Hürlimann, head of sales, EMEA, Appway

• Thomas Schaer, digital innovations lead, Appway (speaker only)

• Hugo Borges, regional market head of Africa and Europe, Standard Chartered Private Bank

• Edward Thomas, new business manager, Oxfam (panel only)

Moderator:

• Oliver Williams, head and co-founder, WealthInsight

y Session one panel discussion y Francisco Fernandez, Avaloq

y Hugo Borges, Standard Chartered Private Bank

y Session two panel discussion

y Thomas Schaer, Appway

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their pension savings as “quickly as they can”, those who are focused on leaving the pension for the next generation, and those who want to turn it into an income.

Clients are now interested in doing all those things from a single account, said Par-kin. “That presents a number of challenges: First, having multiple goals to be met from a single account; second, each of those goals have different risk-return profiles.”

Parkin also said that current retirement goals are not just income-based. He added:

“The retirement goals themselves need to be managed actively, not to reflect risk, but to really help people drive more value out of their invested retirement savings. This risk of leaving money on the table, I think, is a much bigger concern than the risk of running out.”

The session’s second presentation came from René Hürlimann and Thomas Schaer from Appway, who spoke about automation and customer experience. Schaer said user expectations are a main driver for automa-tion, and that there are three key areas that need attention: convenience, rapidity and personalisation.

He also said private banks have to be able to provide “modern communications chan-nels”, like chatbots. “It is not about getting rid of the client advisor through work auto-mation; it is about facilitating the daily busi-ness, the daily job of the client advisor.”

Appway ended the presentation with a live demonstration showing that functions such as updating an address could be done via a chatbot without going into a physical branch.

The session’s final speaker was Standard Chartered Private Bank’s Hugo Borges, who spoke about maintaining strong client rela-tionships from an African perspective.

Borges mentioned the importance of building relationships at an early stage, and reviewing and adapting the coverage market.

Borges also explained that brand is instru-mental in attracting and retaining ultra-high net worth (UHNW) assets. “Finally it is about the management of reputation and operating risks because this is a key compo-nent of value management,” he said.

Session two’s panel discussion was chaired by Oliver Williams, head and co-founder of WealthInsight. Edward Thomas from Oxfam joined the discussion, and said that the next generation views ethical investments, phi-lanthropy and being socially responsible as a “much higher priority”.

Borges added that among UHNWs in Afri-ca, the new generation of clients, educated in some of the world’s best universities, have a different way of approaching ethical invest-ments, and that private banks might have to

“start looking at that area as an asset class in its own right”.

Asked whether regulation is driving demand for digital solutions, Hürlimann said: “If you just look for compliance through digitalisation, the user experience will not be great.”

During the audience Q&A, a question posed to the panel was: “How do we adjust our traditional pension way of thinking to emerging markets, such Nigeria and Ghana?”

Parkin said: “The products may be differ-ent, the regulatory environment may be dif-ferent, but I think the principles themselves are pretty universal. It is about trying to tai-lor those principles.”

The third session’s opening presentation came from Citi Private Bank’s Simon Kingsnorth, who spoke about technology trends and the need for personalisation in the industry.

Kingsnorth explained that the private banking industry “has not been brilliant” in innovating and keeping up with the pace of technology, which “has never been faster than it is now”.

He added that a lot of banks “struggle to get their data into good shape”. “Getting the right people on the right strategy in place for data is essential for your personalisation strategy,” he said.

The session’s second speaker, Dorsum’s Sándor Szabó, spoke about how AI can help in client acquisition. Szabó said advisors should be able to reach clients when they are not “physically closer” to them.

He explained how private banks can acquire new clients through Dorsum’s chat-bot – how friendly conversations can take place and advisors can “step into the conver-sation, or modify the questions being asked or the entire procedure if needed”.

He also spoke about how a virtual advice solution can help in “deepening or keeping the client relationships alive”, for instance by receiving investment advice on their mobiles.

The third presentation came from Ali Sadr of Pilatus Bank, who said the “Uber moment” of banking will come from “lowering the thresholds that private banks still hold”, so

3: Broadening out from the traditional private banking premisePanel members and speakers:

• Simon Kingsnorth, global head of digital marketing, Citi Private Bank

• Sándor Szabó, key account manager, Dorsum

• Ali Sadr, chair, Pilatus Bank

• Nick Middleton, co-head, UBS SmartWealth

• Andrew Reid Thomas, head of sales, Europe, InvestCloud (panel only)

Moderator:

• Bartosz Golba, head of wealth management, GlobalData

y Simon Kingsnorth, Citi Private Bank y Nick Middleton, UBS

y Session three panel discussion

PBI 345.indd 13 10/07/2017 10:32:52


FEAT

URE

PBI LONDON CONFERENCE 2017 Private Banker International

they can serve mass affluent clients who con-trol “the highest amount of wealth” and are

“left alone”. He added that if private banks can bring

together “high touch with high tech”, that would lead to the Uber moment of banking.

The final speaker of session three was Nick Middleton of UBS, who spoke about the opportunities that robo-advisors can pre-sent to traditional wealth managers. Middle-ton said the industry has to think about the way clients want to engage: “We can’t be in a position where we have to catch up. We have to be on this wave now.”

He highlighted the importance of conveni-ence, adding: “People are busy; no one has time to go and find advisors. Rather than being a threat to our industry, robo-advi-sors and digital technology actually help to enhance and augment our businesses.”

The conference’s penultimate panel dis-cussion was chaired by Bartosz Golba of GlobalData. Andrew Thomas from Invest-Cloud joined the panel.

Kingsnorth said one of the key features in customer experience and private banking is personalisation. “Nowadays it is not difficult to achieve personalisation via technology. There is a huge amount of tools available.”

Middleton added: “As an industry we seg-ment people in very simplistic ways. We seg-ment clients based on wealth, but that’s not how we should segment clients. We should segment clients based on their requirements and their complexity.”

Commenting on the cost of digitalisation, Thomas said the most important aspect is to test the solutions first before rushing into cre-ating a digital advisor. He said: “You want to be cost-effective, but don’t provide a generic offering that does not differentiate you.”

John Saunders of Coutts International opened the fourth session.

He spoke about the future of private bank-ing, saying: “I think we can expect different technologies to drive greater fragmentation on one hand, but newer forms of collabora-tion on the other.“In part, it is driven by regulative impera-

tives, and in part because I don’t see the established players being able to simply absorb fintech as they start to create new ground or going into existing market share.”

Saunders also explained that those engag-ing in cross-border activity will have to be aware of the many regulations and be “very clear about what those rules mean”.

The final panel discussion was chaired by Ian Woodhouse of Orbium, and focused on whether the UK, and particularly London, will retain its top financial status after Brexit.

Joining the panel were James Fleming of Arbuthnot Latham & Co., Jonathan Davis of Avaloq, Mouhammed Choukeir of Klein-wort Hambros, and Alexandra Altinger of Sandaire Investment Office.

Choukeir focused on how London is a global powerhouse in the financial industry.

“The reason that London has that number one status is perhaps partly because it is part of the EU, but a lot of the clients that we speak to bank through London for other rea-sons – the human capital, the infrastructure, the rule of law, [and the] regulation.“In that context, we think London will

retain and continue to be a source of com-parative advantage.”

Altinger added: “I do think that there are still loads of unknowns, but it is important to recognise that London has proved itself as one of the premier financial wealth manage-ment centres in the world.”

Davis agreed that London will remain a strong financial centre, but there will be

“greater uncertainties” ahead. Commenting on the impact Brexit will

have on regulations, Fleming highlighted that there is a “great concern” about the

“potential loss of passporting”. He said: “We will no longer be able to send people onto the continent to sell products. Businesses will have to consider selling out subsidiary companies or changing their business models entirely and that is a major feature.”

Altinger said that she did not see “any change to the directionality” of the regula-tion that is in place, and Saunders added that once the rules are set, they are not going to be about taxes, but more in the area of cross-border compliance.

The PBI London Conference was followed by a gala dinner and awards ceremony. <

4: Private banking in the UK and Europe – what should we expect?Panel members and speakers:

• John Saunders, MD of US and Europe, Coutts International

• James Flemming, vice-chair, Arbuthnot Latham & Co. (panel only)

• Jonathan Davis, UK MD, Avaloq (panel only)

• Mouhammed Choukeir, chief investment officer, Kleinwort Hambros (panel only)

• Alexandra Altinger, CEO, Sandaire Investment Office (panel only)

Moderator:

• Ian Woodhouse, senior business advisor, Orbium

y Session four panel discussion y John Saunders, Coutts International

PBI 345.indd 14 10/07/2017 10:33:04


PRIVATE BANKER INTERNATIONAL AWARDSPrivate Banker International

The Europe-focused Private Banker International Awards: London 2017 celebrated the best among the private banks that are successfully serving

wealthy clients across the region. Winners were selected by an independent

judging panel and PBI editorial team mem-bers across 12 categories alongside the Edi-tor’s Special Award.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management and Credit Suisse won two awards each. The first claimed the Outstanding Private Bank for Next-Generation Proposition and the Outstanding Private Bank for Philanthropy Proposition Award, while the latter claimed the Outstanding Private Bank – Eastern Europe and the Outstanding Private Bank for UHNW Clients award.

The Outstanding Private Banking Cus-tomer Relationship Service and Engagement Award went to Citi Private Bank, while Société Générale Private Banking was select-ed as Outstanding Private Bank – Western Europe.

Prometeia was distinguished with the Out-standing Digital Solutions Provider (Vendor) Award, while Appway received the Out-standing Wealth Management Technology Provider – Middle Office (Vendor) Award, and Avaloq took home the Outstanding Wealth Management Technology Provider – Back Office (Vendor).

The Editor’s Special Award went to Nykredit, in recognition of its high rate of client satisfaction and ambitious growth in the Nordic region.

PBI editor Meghna Mukerjee said: “The Private Banker International: London Con-ference and Awards have gathered significant momentum in the last four years and this year’s event was exceptional.“The calibre and quality of the submissions

were extremely high. We added a new award category this year as well, which was enthu-siastically received by the industry.“The 2017 award winners are rewiring

the future of the private banking industry in Europe, and have demonstrated their strength through innovative and market-leading initiatives, excellence and expertise.“They have proved successful during chal-

lenging times for the industry and identified core propositions to remain competitive and client-centric,” Mukerjee added. <

Private Banker International announced the winners of the fourth annual Private Banker International Awards: London 2017 at a glittering gala dinner ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria hotel on 8 June

Winner takes it all: PBI London Awards

PBI Awards: London 2017 winnersOutstanding Private Bank – UK – International ClientsHSBC Private Bank (UK)

Outstanding Private Bank – UK – Domestic ClientsBarclays Wealth and Investments

Outstanding Private Bank – UK Crown DependenciesKleinwort Hambros

Editor’s Special AwardNykredit

Outstanding Digital Solutions Provider (Vendor)Prometeia

Outstanding Wealth Management Technology Provider – Middle Office (Vendor)Appway

Outstanding Wealth Management Technology Provider – Back Office (Vendor) 2017Avaloq

Outstanding Private Bank for Next-Generation PropositionBNP Paribas Wealth Management

Outstanding Private Bank for Next-Generation PropositionStandard Bank Wealth and Investment

Outstanding Private Bank for UHNW ClientsCredit Suisse

Outstanding Private Bank for Philanthropy PropositionBNP Paribas Wealth Management

Outstanding Private Banking Customer Relationship Service and EngagementCiti Private Bank

Outstanding Private Bank– Eastern EuropeCredit Suisse

Outstanding Private Bank – Western EuropeSociété Générale Private Banking

y BNP Paribas Wealth Management and Standard Bank Wealth and Investment win Outstanding Private Bank for Next-Generation Proposition Award

y Citi Private Bank win Outstanding Private Banking Customer Relationship Service and Engagement Award

y Société Générale Private Banking win Outstanding Private Bank – Western Europe Award

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PBI 345.indd 15 10/07/2017 10:33:13


NEW

STECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP Private Banker International

Let’s talk technology: monthly update

InvestCloud to launch London fintech incubator

US-based InvestCloud is set to launch a fin-tech incubator and accelerator at its Euro-pean headquarters in London.

The InvestCloud Innovation Center Lon-don, which opens in Summer 2017, will offer both new startups and established financial firms the ability to quickly deliver digital wealth management solutions supported by the InvestCloud platform.

The 9,302-square-foot venue will follow the blueprint of the firm’s first technology accelerator at its Los Angeles headquar-ters. Members will have access to their own InvestCloud Sandbox, allowing access to over 200 InvestCloud financial Apps, over 2,000 APIs, integrated market data, news, financial and accounting data, a document repository and InvestCloud’s method of development.

Businesses will be able to create sub-teams from their own organisations, or use Invest-Cloud’s staff and external partners. In addi-tion, they will have access to InvestCloud’s Programs Writing Programs (PWP) to self-generate lines of code, and to its Digital Warehouse technology to provide real-time insight and information.

John Wise, co-founder and CEO of Invest-Cloud, said: “It’s no secret that the financial services industry is behind the curve when it comes to digital. Many projects cost millions only to be scrapped, and the failure rates for startups are incredibly high.“InvestCloud’s Innovation Centers ensure

success for these projects – allowing teams to innovate and ideate quickly, drawing on the experience of the Innovation Center team and the wealth of capability within the InvestCloud app library.”

Applications for the InvestCloud Innova-tion Center are being accepted now.

Canadian robo-adviser Wealthsimple to expand into UK

Wealthsimple, a digital investment man-agement business based in Canada, has announced plans to expand into the UK.

The robo-adviser is expected to launch a beta version of its platform in the UK in mid-2017 and fully launch in September 2017. As well as being able to create an investment account on the website or mobile app, Wealthsimple users in the UK can also access advisers and choose from a selection of standard or socially responsible invest-ment portfolios.

The UK arm will be headed by Toby Trie-bel, a fintech entrepreneur and the former co-

founder of online lender Spotcap.Wealthsimple founder and CEO Michael

Katchen said: “Our mission is to make smart financial services accessible to everyone in the world.“There are a lot of people in the UK who

aren’t getting the tools and advice they need to live their best financial lives, and in par-ticular young and first-time investors.”

The UK expansion marks the company’s second international expansion, following its entry into the US earlier this year. The busi-ness currently manages $1bn in assets and serves over 30,000 clients.

Bank Vontobel taps Appian for digital overhaul

Switzerland-based Bank Vontobel has select-ed US-based software developer Appian to execute its digital transformation strategy in all its divisions.

The bank will use Appian’s low-code application platform to improve the cus-tomer experience and transform traditional business methods to more efficient and agile processes.

Appian claims its platform will accelerate the development of enterprise applications without any coding. It combines process management, data management, online and offline native mobility, collaboration and content management.

The platform is being used by Vonto-bel employees at its European and North America offices in three business areas: asset management, private banking and investment banking. Appian said its platform will streamline Vontobel’s customer onboard-ing, client configuration processes, contribute to an automated risk-analysis process, and manage compliance.

Australia and Hong regulators sign fintech co-operation pact

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong and the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) have signed an agreement to collaborate in areas of fintech.

The two parties will refer fintech startups to each other for advice in the two markets. Startups will be supported through ASIC’s Innovation Hub and SFC’s Fintech Contact Point, which will help businesses gain insight into the regulatory regimes in their markets.

The alliance will also facilitate information exchange between the watchdogs.

Commenting on the new partnership, ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour said:

“The Co-operation Agreement is a significant boost for Australia’s burgeoning fintech sec-

tor and will ease entry into this important market for innovative Australian businesses.”

OCBC launches chatbot for employees

Singapore-based OCBC Bank has launched a human resource (HR) mobile app for employees, to enhance operational efficiency within the business.

The new HR In Your Pocket app features an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chat-bot, Buddy, which is integrated with the bank’s HR information system. The chatbot offers responses specific to each employee, such as leave balance, medical and lifestyle expenses reimbursement claim status, the bank’s code of conduct, internal job postings and HR policies, among others.

Employees will be able the access the new app using OCBC OneTouch. Queries can be either typed in the chat window or made using a voice command.

The app, which has been developed in-house, will currently run on iOS platforms. Plans are being developed to make the app available on the Android platform at a later date. The bank plans to launch the app in its Malaysian unit by the end of 2017.

OCBC Bank’s head of group human resources, Jason Ho, said: “The internal feedback was that our apps for customers are innovative and useful, so we thought: ‘Why not channel our bank’s digital capabili-ties and technological expertise into devel-oping intuitive and easy-to-use apps for our employees too?’

This is all the more apt as mobile phones have become an indispensable gadget for eve-ryone, and the HR app readily complements this modern lifestyle.”

HSBC unveils plan to venture into robo-advice

UK banking group HSBC has announced plans to launch an online advice service by the end of 2017. The bank’s entry into the robo-advice space will target customers with less than £15,000 to invest.

Developed in collaboration with the Finan-cial Conduct Authority (FCA), the service will aim to integrate online, telephone and face-to-face advice, HSBC said. It will offer recommendations based on specific require-ments by using algorithms and data.

The bank did not disclose service charges but said it will be “affordably priced”.

HSBC’s head of digital UK & Europe, Raman Bhatia, said: “We have been working with our customers and the FCA to shape our offering to ensure that we are providing the most up-to-date and smart wealth manage-ment advice possible.” <

PBI 345.indd 16 10/07/2017 10:33:13


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REGULATION ROUND-UPPrivate Banker International

The latest in regulation

A monthly round-up of the main regulatory announcements that impacted the private banking and wealth management industry worldwide

FCA calls for shake-up of the asset management industryThe UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has called for greater transparency in the asset management industry after a review concluded that “competition is weak” in the £7trn ($9.1trn) sector.

Fund managers will now be required to act in the best interests of investors and appoint a minimum of two independent directors to their boards, the watchdog said. The regulator also called for a single, all-in fee for investors, as well as consistent and standardised disclosure of costs to investors.

At the same time, the FCA suggested that it should be offered regulatory oversight of investment consultants. It also announced plans to launch a market study into investment platforms. The remedial measures will be implemented in multiple stages, with some subject to the outcomes of consultations.

FCA CEO Andrew Bailey said: “The asset management sector is important to the economy, managing the savings of millions of people. In the current low-interest environment it is vital we help people earn a return on their savings.”

Manulife receives green light to operate trust business in the PhilippinesThe Philippine central bank has granted Canadian insurance major Manulife Financial approval to operate trust and other fiduciary business in the country.

Following the liberalisation of trust business in the Philippines, Manulife Asset Management and Trust has become the first foreign financial institution to receive a certificate of authority from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Manulife said the licence would enable it to bolster its offerings in the Philippines and demonstrate a “commitment to deepening its relationships in Asia”.

The company intends to bring an initial offering of unit investment trust funds in the third quarter of 2017.

It also plans to offer a suite of customised solutions covering pension accounts, bespoke institutional mandates and segregated accounts for institutional investors.

Commenting on the development, Manulife’s head of wealth and asset management for Asia, Michael Dommermuth, said: “The Philippines is a promising market for the asset management industry, given the rapid growth of the middle-class population.

“We have, over time, already built a strong book of business in the Philippines through

our investment-linked products. With the launch of the trust corporation here, we now have the broadest ASEAN footprint of any asset management company, which is strategically important as we anticipate accelerated economic growth within the ASEAN region,” Dommermuth added.

The new trust company has also named Aira Gaspar as CEO. She was previously chief investment officer at Manulife Philippines.

Edmond de Rothschild fined in Luxembourg for involvement in 1MDB scandalThe Luxembourg division of Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild has been fined almost €9m ($10.2bn) by local regulators over its involvement in the scandal-ridden Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Rothschild said the fine “marks the end of the proceedings in which it has actively participated”, without giving any further details on the issue.

Swiss financial regulator FINMA is currently carrying out enforcement proceedings against Rothschild to ascertain whether the bank met anti-money laundering rules.

Several other Swiss banks have also been embroiled in the 1MDB scandal. Last month the Monetary Authority of Singapore fined Credit Suisse over 1MDB-linked transactions, and in April 2017 FINMA issued a written reprimand to UBS over its connection with the scandal. Swiss banks BSI and Falcon Private Bank have already been stripped of their merchant banking statuses in Singapore as a result of their involvements.

Barclays faces fraud charges over Qatar capital-raising arrangementsUK banking group Barclays and four former executives have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud over capital raising from Qatari investors in 2008.

The charges relate to two capital raisings with Qatar Holding and Challenger Universal between June and October 2008, as well as a $3bn loan made available to Qatar through the economy and finance ministry in November 2008.

The executives charged are ex-Barclays CEO John Silvester Varley, former Barclays Capital executive chair of investment banking and investment management in the Middle East and North Africa Roger Allan Jenkins, former Barclays wealth and investment management CEO Thomas Llewellyn Kalaris, and former European head of financial institutions Richard William Boath.

All four executives and the bank have been accused of making representations related to the June 2008 capital raising.

In addition, Barclays, Varley and Jenkins have been charged with fraud relating to the October capital raising, and for unlawful financial assistance.

Barclays issued a statement saying it is “considering its position in relation to these developments” and that it “awaits further details of the charges from the SFO”.

FCA charges ex-UBS compliance officer with insider dealingThe UK’s FCA has charged former UBS compliance officer Fabiana Abdel-Malek and accomplice Walid Anis Choucair with charges of insider trading.

Abdel-Malek, a former employee at the London branch of UBS, and Choucair have been charged with five counts of insider dealing that occurred between June 2013 and June 2014. The pair have been accused of making a profit of £1.4m through illegal trading of shares in various companies, including Elizabeth Arden.

“As part of the investigation, the FCA asked us to provide information in relation to a sole, mid-level, former employee based in London. As this is an ongoing criminal prosecution, and to avoid the risk of prejudicing the course of justice, we are unable to comment further,” UBS stated.

The pair appeared in a London court, with a further hearing scheduled for July in Southwark. The pair could face a maximum seven-year sentence under UK law if found guilty of insider dealing.

Singapore signs multilateral tax co-operation agreementsSingapore has signed multilateral framework agreements on bilateral cooperation on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI).

The city-state signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreements (MCAAs) on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and the Exchange of Country-by-Country Reports. AEOI relationships remain bilateral under the MCAAs, as signatories enter bilaterally with another signatory on a mutual consent basis.

The Ministry of Finance of Singapore said the signing of the agreements reaffirms the country’s commitment to international standards on tax co-operation. It added that Singapore will also want to ensure there is a level playing field among all major financial centres on CRS.

The city-state will also consider automatic exchanges of financial account information with regional jurisdictions which have the safeguards to ensure the confidentiality of the information exchanged. <

PBI 345.indd 17 10/07/2017 10:33:14


PBI GREATER CHINA AWARDS Private Banker International

Private Banker International announced the winners of its North Asia-focused awards at the Park Lane Pullman Hotel in Hong Kong. The event cele-

brated excellence and achievement in private banking markets across the region.

Winners were selected by an independent judging panel and PBI editorial team mem-bers across institutional, service proposi-tion and individual categories. They were announced at an exclusive luncheon, where presentations on the North Asian wealth management markets were also delivered.

China Merchants Bank was named Best Private Bank in China, while Taishin Bank

won the best Private Bank in Taiwan award and HSBC Private Banking scooped the award for best Private Bank in Hong Kong.

The Best Family Office Proposition in Greater China award went to Credit Suisse AG, while HSBC Private Bank won Best Off-shore Renminbi Offering.

BNP Paribas was distinguished with the Best Ultra-High Net Worth Individual Offer-ing in Greater China award, while Credit Suisse AG won the Most Effective Wealth Management Platform in Greater China.

Citi Private Bank was also recognised with the best Next-Generation Offering in Great-er China award.

PBI editor Meghna Mukerjee said: “The Greater China region represents a wealth of opportunities and unique dynamics for glob-al and local private banks. Wealth generation is continuing at a rapid rate across China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the mass afflu-ent population, particularly, is a segment to watch and engage.“The successes in this crucial region must

be recognised and felicitated. The award winners exhibited a clear focus in their strat-egies and are shaping the future of the private banking industry. They have demonstrated their worth through their excellence, exper-tise and industry-leading initiatives.” <

The winners of the Private Banker International Greater China Awards 2017 were announced on 2 June at an exclusive luncheon at Hong Kong’s Park Lane Pullman hotel

Eastern stars: PBI Greater China Awards

PBI Greater China Awards 2017 winnersBest Private Bank in ChinaWinner: China Merchants BankHighly Commended: Noah Private Wealth

Best Private Bank in China (Foreign)Winner: Citi Private BankHighly Commended: Credit Suisse

Best Private Bank in TaiwanWinner: Taishin BankHighly Commended: E.SUN Bank, CTBC Bank

Best Private Bank in Taiwan (Foreign)Winner: UBSHighly Commended: Citi Private Bank, Credit Suisse

Best Private Bank in Hong Kong Winner: HSBC Private Banking

Best Private Bank in Hong Kong (Foreign)Winner: DBS Bank (Hong Kong)Highly Commended: Citi Private Bank, Credit Suisse

Best Family Office Proposition in Greater ChinaWinner: Credit Suisse AGHighly Commended: London and Capital Asia

Best Next-Generation Offering in Greater ChinaWinner: Citi Private BankHighly Commended: BNP Paribas

Best Offshore Renminbi Offering in Greater ChinaWinner: HSBC Private Banking

Best Ultra-High Net Worth Individual Offering in Greater ChinaWinner: BNP Paribas

Most Effective Wealth Management Technology Platform in Greater ChinaWinner: Credit SuisseHighly Commended: Taishin Bank

Outstanding Young Private Bankers (Greater China-North Asia)Winners: Echo Bi, Eddie Chng and Michele Tan, DBS Private Bank

Outstanding Private Banker (Greater China-North Asia)Winner: Sheila Ho, DBS Private Bank

y Samuel Lin, Head of Retail and Wealth Management, Taishin Bank

y Taishin Bank wins the Best Private Bank in Taiwan Award

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PBI 345.indd 18 10/07/2017 10:33:20


TITLEPrivate Banker International PEOPLE MOVESPrivate Banker International

People moves

People Moves

Country Name Moved from Moved to Old position New position

UK Michael Morley CouttsDeutsche Bank Wealth Management

CEO Head – UK arm

Japan Ken Maeda Schroders SchrodersManager – Schroder ISF Japanese Opportunities fund

Head – Japanese equities

USA Richard Weber Internal Revenue Service Deutsche Bank Chief – criminal investigation divisionMD and head – anti-financial crime, the Americas

Australia Peter O’BrienRussell Reynolds Associates

Russell Reynolds Associates

Head – global supply chain and global industrial services and infrastructure

Head – Asia-Pacific region

UK Michael Rosenthal Signia Wealth Signia Wealth Head – hedge fund investments CIO and head – hedge fund investments

UK John Griffith-Jones FCA Unconfirmed Chair (Retaining position until March 2018)

UK Alexander BarryJP Morgan Asset Management

Legg MasonSenior relationship manager, global strategic relationships

Head – UK sales

Singapore Rohan Singh Northern Trust BNY MellonHead – Southeast Asia and Australasia regions and sales for Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific head of asset servicing

USA Peter SalvageSS&C Technologies Hedge Fund Services

BNY Mellon MD in London and New York Global head – hedge fund services

UK Svenja KellerInvestec Wealth and Investment

Killik & Co Financial planning director Head – wealth planning

Jersey Ian Rumens Intertrust Intertrust Intertrust’s private wealth director Global head – private wealth services

USA Greg Fink Fidelity Investments ACG WealthVice-president – clearing and custody services

President and CEO

UK Andrew Wood Brewin Dolphin Hargreave HaleDumfries and Galloway area assistant director

Investment manager, Carlisle office

USA Matthew Zames JP Morgan Unconfirmed COO Unconfirmed

Australia Sally Surgeon Northern Trust Northern Trust Head – client services in AustralasiaHead – client services in Australasia and new Sydney office

UK Ian Woodhouse PwC OrbiumDirector – private banking and wealth management

Senior business advisor

Hong Kong Jason YuStandard Life Investments, Hong Kong

SchrodersInvestment director – multi-asset, Asia-Pacific

Head – multi-asset product, north Asia

UK Michael HartAmundi Alternative Investments

Gresham House Global head – business development Head – distribution

UK Robert Lea UBS Ashburton InvestmentsGlobal equity research sector head and strategist

Head – new global equity research team

Switzerland Daniel Lipp St Galler Kantonalbank Unconfirmed Private banking head Unconfirmed

PBI lists the month’s key career developments by the movers and shakers in the private banking industry. In the UK, Michael Morley, former CEO at Coutts moves to Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, while in the US, Greg Fink moves from Fidelity Investments to ACG Wealth

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PBI 345.indd 19 10/07/2017 10:33:24


NEW

SPBI GLOBAL AWARDS Private Banker International

Intelligent Environments is an international provider of innovative mobile and online solutions for nancial services providers. Our mission is to enable our clients to deliver a simple, secure and effortless digital experience to their own customers.

We do this through Interact®, our single software platform, which enables secure customer acquisition, engagement, transactions and servicing across any mobile and online channel and device. Today these are predominantly focused on smartphones, PCs and tablets. However Interact® will support other devices, if and when they become mainstream.

We provide a more viable option to internally developed technology, enabling our clients with a fast route to market whilst providing the expertise to manage the complexity of multiple channels, devices and operating systems. Interact® is a continuously evolving technology that ensures our clients keep pace with the fast moving digital landscape.

We are immensely proud of our achievements, in relation to our innovation, our thought leadership, our industrywide recognition, our demonstrable product differentiation, the diversity of our client base, and the calibre of our partners.

For many years we have been the digital heart of a diverse range of nancial services providers including Atom Bank, Generali Wealth Management, HRG, Ikano Retail Finance, Lloyds Banking Group, MotoNovo Finance, Think Money Group and Toyota Financial Services.

To nd out more please visit:

www.intelligentenvironments.com

Simple, secure and effortless digital solutions for nancial services organisations

@IntelEnviro

IE Adverts - 2017.indd 1 21/12/2016 11:53:36

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PRIVATE BANKER

The award categories for 2017Institutional Awards

Outstanding Private Bank – North Asia

Outstanding Private Bank – South Asia

Outstanding Private Bank – Southeast Asia

Outstanding Private Bank – Asia-Pacific Regional Player

Outstanding Global Private Bank – Asia Pacific

Outstanding Global Private Bank – Europe

Outstanding Global Private Bank – North America

Outstanding Global Private Bank – Latin America

Outstanding Global Private Bank – Middle East

Outstanding Global Private Bank – Africa

Outstanding Global Private Bank – Overall

Service Proposition Awards

Outstanding Wealth Management Service for the Affluent

Best Family Office Offering

Best Next-Generation Offering

Outstanding Private Bank for UHNW Clients

Outstanding Philanthropy Offering

Outstanding NRI/Global Indians Offering

Best Discretionary & Advisory Service Offering

Most Effective Investment Service Offering

Outstanding Wealth Planning and Trust Provider

Strategy Awards

Outstanding Wealth Manager – Customer Relationship Service and Engagement

Outstanding Private Bank for Growth Strategy – Organic

Outstanding Private Bank for Growth Strategy – M&A

Outstanding Wealth Management Technology Initiative – Front End

Outstanding Wealth Management Technology Initiative – Back Office

Most Innovative Digital Offering

Most Innovative Business Model

People Awards

Outstanding RM Training and Development Programme

Outstanding Young Private Bankers (Open to private bankers aged 40 or below)

Outstanding Private Banker – Asia-Pacific

Outstanding Global Private Banker

Rising Star for Asia-Pacific

Nominations for the Private Banker International Global Wealth Awards 2017 are now open.

In their 12th year, the Private Banker International Global Wealth Awards, which take place in Singapore annually, are an established mark of excellence for global institutions.

The judges will make their decisions on the winners based on the quality and depth of the submission, information from executive interviews, and corroborated facts by peers and industry experts. Submission must refer-ence projects from 2016 and 2017.

From the various nominations, three to five institutions or individuals will be shortlisted for each award category, by the independent judging panel. Following the review of the shortlisted applications, the judging panel will make the final selection of the winners.

Winners will be announced at a Gala Din-ner on 13 October 2017 in Singapore, which will be preceded by the long-running Private Banker International Global Wealth Confer-ence on the day.

The deadline to submit nominations for the awards is 28 July 2017. <

Nominations now open for PBI Global Wealth Awards

PBI 345.indd 20 10/07/2017 10:33:31


Intelligent Environments is an international provider of innovative mobile and online solutions for nancial services providers. Our mission is to enable our clients to deliver a simple, secure and effortless digital experience to their own customers.

We do this through Interact®, our single software platform, which enables secure customer acquisition, engagement, transactions and servicing across any mobile and online channel and device. Today these are predominantly focused on smartphones, PCs and tablets. However Interact® will support other devices, if and when they become mainstream.

We provide a more viable option to internally developed technology, enabling our clients with a fast route to market whilst providing the expertise to manage the complexity of multiple channels, devices and operating systems. Interact® is a continuously evolving technology that ensures our clients keep pace with the fast moving digital landscape.

We are immensely proud of our achievements, in relation to our innovation, our thought leadership, our industrywide recognition, our demonstrable product differentiation, the diversity of our client base, and the calibre of our partners.

For many years we have been the digital heart of a diverse range of nancial services providers including Atom Bank, Generali Wealth Management, HRG, Ikano Retail Finance, Lloyds Banking Group, MotoNovo Finance, Think Money Group and Toyota Financial Services.

To nd out more please visit:

www.intelligentenvironments.com

Simple, secure and effortless digital solutions for nancial services organisations

@IntelEnviro

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SHAPE THE FUTURE OF PRIVATE BANKING

For more details please contact Vicki Greenwood on [email protected] or call +44 (0) 20 3096 2580.

Private Banking Switzerland 201712th December 2017 � The Marriott, Zurich

Private Banking Switzerland 2017 brings together private banks, family o� ces, independent wealth managers and intermediaries in an active discussion to debate the importance of new

strategies, business practices and partnerships of the key issues facing the industry.

� Hear � Network � Discover � Celebrate

Key Issues

� Recognising regulatory changes and trends in private banking this year

� Identifying the needs and preferences of today’s clients

� Next generation banking and how it is evolving

� How is digital shaking up the wealth management industry?

� Family O� ces: How can they continue to succeed in today’s market?

� The importance of conduct risk at London’s private banks

� Brexit: how will this shape the future of private banking in Switzerland and Europe

Gold Sponsor Silver Sponsors Brand Sponsors Exhibitors Panel Host

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verdict › private-banker... · or. intelligent environments, the international provider of...

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