Awards for Excellence 2019
Our review period was a difficult one for private banking operations in the region, as it was worldwide: the fourth quarter wiped out huge chunks of revenues and assets for some international and local players, and it was a year that required sound individual advice for clients.
Credit Suisse’s model, more than anyone else’s in Asia, rests upon links between investment banking and private banking teams; bonuses come out of the same pool and bankers are remunerated in part by how well they linked the two.
In Asia both are housed within a single unit, called Wealth Management & Connected (WM&C), which was able to withstand the market volatility through 2018 with greater resilience than free-standing operations.
Pre-tax income in that division has gone from SFr285 million ($285 million) in financial 2015 to SFr797 million in financial 2018, while Apac’s return on regulatory capital has climbed from 14% to 25% over the same period.
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| Benjamin Cavalli |
The model – helping entrepreneurs with all their needs, corporate and personal – works, and this award also recognizes the excellent and creative capability the bank has built on the investment banking side in recent years.