Wealth management across central and eastern Europe is still in a state of flux, nearly 18 months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In that period, some lenders have pulled back from specific markets in the region; others have sought ways to cut costs by reducing their roster of senior private bankers.
But UniCredit is clearly committed to staying the course. The Italian lender has private banking and wealth management operations in 11 markets across the region, including Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. It won a wide range of categories in Euromoney’s 2023 private banking awards, including those for best international private bank in Hungary and best bank for high net-worth clients in Bulgaria.
Today, its team of 1,400 private bankers and relationship managers serve 140,000 wealthy customers with combined assets under management of more than €100 billion. Its offering stretches from simple services such as broking and credit cards to complex services for high and ultra-high net-worth clients.
Not all markets are equal. In private banking, Hungary and Bulgaria are its fastest growing markets. Croatia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are also dynamic. The bank reckons the number of privately wealthy clients rose 5% year on year in 2022. Last year, it launched a new and dedicated mobile banking app catering to its private banking clients in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, enabling them to buy and sell funds and stocks.
It has been a hit. UniCredit reckons at least 60% of its wealthy clients have downloaded and are active users of the app in those markets; it now plans to extend the service across the region.
“The private banking wealth management segment will continue to grow,” says Pierre-Yves Guegan, head of retail banking for central and eastern Europe. “We invest in this area with two key priorities: first, in our people, so they can make the difference by delivering state-of-the-art services to our private banking clients. And second, in digitalization and remote services, which will allow us stay close to our customers at any time they need us.”
