Barclays Wealth sets
hiring spree…

Butterfield sets up London wealth
management business…

French banks move into Canadian
wealth…

Swiss Life acquiring German adviser
AWD…

Credit Suisse opens in
Austria…

 
 
UK

Barclays Wealth sets hiring spree

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Barclays Wealth is to create 800 jobs at its private banking arm,
in a major expansion plan set for 2008. The jobs, which will
include project managers, marketing, finance and compliance roles,
will be filled in London, Geneva and Singapore and in Glasgow at
its back-office operation. The new staff members add to the 1,700
people recruited to Barclays Wealth internationally since the start
of 2006.

“We are strongly in the market right now, at a time when others are
thinking about their model and future direction,” said Barclays
Wealth’s global head of human resources, Phil Smith.

Barclays Wealth has had “excellent” profit growth during the nine
months to 30 September, according to a trading update from the
bank. Growth was driven by higher transactional income and strong
inflows of client deposits and invested assets. In a statement,
Barclays said it “continued to invest in client-facing staff and
related infrastructure to support future growth”.

In new appointments, Barclays Wealth has hired Sandeep Sharma as
director and head of South Asia. He will leverage the Barclays
Wealth Global Service Support hub in Singapore to offer wealth
management services to the South Asian community of ultra high net
worth individuals.

Bermuda

Butterfield sets up London wealth management
business

The Bank of NT Butterfield & Son has established a Butterfield
International Private Office in London as part of its growing
wealth management business. The new unit will concentrate on client
acquisition for the group’s network of trust businesses, comprising
offices in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong,
Switzerland, Malta and the Bahamas. Providing independent fiduciary
and asset structuring services to international families, with
emphasis on the use of private trust companies, will be central to
the company’s value proposition, the bank said.

“The incorporation of an international private office in London,
alongside our existing private banking and trust businesses,
demonstrates our commitment to providing a broad suite of services
to meet the increasingly complex needs of high net worth
individuals and their families,” said Graham Brooks, Butterfield
executive vice-president, international.

Butterfield recently announced the expansion of its Swiss presence
by the establishment of Geneva-based Butterfield Trust
(Switzerland) and acquired the Bentley Reid Group, with offices in
London, Hong Kong and Malta.

Canada

French banks move into Canadian wealth

SG Private Banking, the wealth management arm of Société Générale,
plans to establish a presence in Canada, following an agreement to
acquire 100 percent of Canadian Wealth Management (CWM) Group.
Based in Calgary, CWM has a “solid reputation in its market and
manages around C$650 million [$649 million]”, SG said.

CWM’s wealth management business, which is built around highly
personalised client consultation, will benefit from SG Private
Banking’s international expertise, particularly in structured
products and alternative investments, allowing it to significantly
expand its services offering and meet the increasingly
sophisticated demands of clients.

At the same time, Crédit Agricole (Suisse) is to acquire the
National Bank of Canada (International), a subsidiary of the
National Bank of Canada in Nassau, Bahamas, which specialises in
international private banking. “This acquisition fits perfectly
with the global strategy we have been pursuing over the last number
of years to develop our private banking business,” Crédit Agricole
said. “It also adds to and enhances our product and service line
and enables us to meet our clients’ needs directly. The transaction
strengthens our presence in the Bahamas, which is a major base for
our private banking operations and a place where we have been
active since 2001.”

Germany

Swiss Life acquiring German adviser AWD

Insurer Swiss Life plans to take over AWD in a friendly deal that
values the big German independent financial adviser at €1.16
billion ($1.70 billion). Swiss Life has sold assets in the
Netherlands and Belgium, as well as Swiss private bank Banca del
Gottardo, to raise funds to finance growth elsewhere.

AWD, which has more than 6,300 financial advisers, ranks as one of
Europe’s largest independent financial advisers. Swiss Life will
become one of AWD’s key product partners, while AWD will retain its
independent financial advisory services business model and its
open-product platform.

“Swiss Life and AWD complement one another ideally. The strategic
partnership with AWD enables us to access the growth markets in
Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Austrian market,” said
Swiss Life CEO Rolf Doerig.

Colombia

Baer gets green light for Bogotá office

Swiss private bank Julius Baer has been given authorisation by
Colombia’s financial regulator to open a representative office in
the country. This is the latest in various new international office
openings by Baer, which is diversifying outside its home market to
tap new clients.

The bank just announced a new office in Abu Dhabi to cater to
wealthy individuals, and an establishment advisory office in Milan.
In October, it announced the acquisition of Capital Invest
(Monaco), a portfolio manager with $340 million of assets, as part
of its strategy of strengthening its presence in major private
banking markets worldwide. Several foreign banks such as JPMorgan
Chase and HSBC have started operating in Colombia in the past
year.

Dubai

Regulator bans two private bankers

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has banned two former
private bankers from Barclays from carrying out financial services
business in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Vanita
Chatterbhoj and Sweta Nayar were barred for knowingly
misrepresenting the terms of financial products sold to their
clients while at Barclays.

David Knott, DFSA’s chief executive, said: “These two individuals
betrayed the trust of Barclays and the clients who were misled.
This type of conduct is unacceptable within the DIFC.” Dubai is
“also sending a strong message that attempts to obstruct or mislead
the regulator will be regarded as a serious offence and result in
additional sanctions”, he added.

The DFSA said that the two provided their clients with materially
altered Barclays banking documents that falsely listed products as
enjoying full capital protection, whereas the products in question
had only conditional capital protection. As a consequence, ten
Barclays clients invested in the products unlawfully marketed by
the two individuals.

Germany

The elite of ‘Germanic’ private banking

Bank Sarasin, Clariden Leu, Credit Suisse and Liechenstein Global
Trust Bank have been ranked among the best private banking
providers in the German-speaking regions of Europe.

The rankings by Elite Report, a research service, aim to identify
the top private client asset managers in German-speaking countries.
Its independent analysts, employing mystery shopping techniques,
scrutinised about 344 banks and asset managers across Austria,
Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to identify the best
institutions.

The rankings are based on a range of criteria, including the degree
of focus on the client, the quality of advice, the asset management
methodology and the quality and depth of service culture. The
rankings in the highest category draw on assessment-based academic
excellence, in that they are judged in the summa cum laude
bracket.

In alphabetical order, these outstanding private banks or asset
managers are: Sarasin, Bankhaus Jungholz, Bankhaus Lampe,
Berenberg-Bank, BHF-Bank, Bremer Landesbank, Centrum Bank, Clariden
Leu, Credit Suisse, Delbrueck Bethmann Maffei, Dr Jens Ehrhardt
Capital, Haspa Hamburger Sparkasse, LGT Bank, Metzler seel. Sohn,
Sal Oppenheim, Schoellerbank, VP bank and Wilhelm versus
Finck.

In the magna cum laude category were: Basler Kantonalbank, Conrad
Heinrich Donner Bank, Feri Wealth Management, Fiduka
depotverwaltung, Fuerst Fugger Privatbank, HSBC Trinkhaus &
Burkhardt, Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, Maerki Baumann, Merck
Finck, Pictet, UBS, Volksbank Vorarlberg and Weberbank. In the cum
laude category were: AlpenBank, Bank Julius Baer, HSH Nordank,
Naspa Nassauische Sparkasse, PSM Vermoegensverwaltung, Reichmuth,
Rothschild Vermoegensverwaltung, swisspartners Investment Network,
Value Holdings and Wegelin & Co.

Austria

Credit Suisse opens in Austria

Credit Suisse has started to offer private banking business in
Austria. Offices in Vienna and Salzburg will focus on high net
worth individuals and families as well as businesses.

Credit Suisse said it will take advantage of Austria’s position as
“an important bridgehead” to the markets of Central and Eastern
Europe as well as meeting the needs of a large expatriate
population.

The Swiss bank said expansion into Austria is another significant
step in the implementation of its international growth strategy for
private banking.

Austria’s private investors are increasingly interested in
opportunities abroad and a large number of expatriate Western
Europeans in turn value the advantages of Austria as a financial
centre, it pointed out.

UK

Fortis launches into onshore UK

Fortis has launched a UK onshore private banking service. Philip
Howell, Fortis Private Banking’s UK managing director, said the
initiative will address the growing demand of private clients for a
highly personalised service, supported by in-depth market insight
and superior investment performance.

Fortis will provide a complete wealth management service.

 

PBI 230

In PBI 230 the article “Subprime fallout makes its mark”
incorrectly identified the CEO of Credit Suisse, who is of course
Brady Dougan. Apologies.