Return to UBS tops private banking poll
BNP Paribas Private Bank
BNP Paribas Private Bank, which has more than €100 billion in assets under management, succeeded in ranking as the top private bank in France this year, in addition to ranking fourth in western Europe. France and Europe both account for 44% of its private client assets. But the offerings in France and other countries differ, says Olivier Coenon, head of development for BNP Paribas Private Bank . “We have a very broad clientele in France and aim to be the leading bank in all client segments,” he says. “While the focus abroad is on wealthy to ultra wealthy families, the breadth of our French network allows us to make profitable inroads in the upper affluent segment that we define as clients with over €250,000 of assets with us.” BNP Paribas Private Bank is onshore in Belgium, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. It is also active in the key international private banking locations, notably in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Miami. Coenon says the private bank is still seeing strong growth in France, and in 2004 launched an advertising campaign in the country to demonstrate the personal service that the bank can offer.
Growth in 2004 was notably fuelled by the demand for retirement savings products. “The debate on retirement in France brought the need for retirement savings products to the fore and hence probably contributed to the inflows in life insurance policies,” says Coenon. BNP Paribas is adding relationship managers in France and abroad. “What is central to our strategy is that we have developed over the past years a global private banking platform. Now that the platform is up and running, we can leverage it through the recruitment of relationship managers or targeted acquisitions as recently demonstrated in Miami, Monaco and Switzerland.”
Indeed 2004 saw a handful of acquisitions for the French bank. BNP Paribas acquired the Latin American high-net-worth clients of Banca Intesa’s subsidiary Banque Sudameris in Miami, which involved the transfer of up to $700 million in client assets. In Monaco, BNP Paribas Private Bank (Switzerland) made two acquisitions – Société Monegasque de Banque Privée SAM and Bank von Ernst (Monaco) – adding a further €1 billion in high-net-worth assets. In December, BNP announced the agreement of the transfer of Citigold International Wealth Management clients in Geneva and Zurich, and the acquisition of CaixaBank Banque Privée (Suisse). BNP Paribas is also looking for rapid development in new wealth markets such as China, India and Brazil.
