(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Geopolitical uncertainties strongly underline the case for private banking, especially in countries like Qatar, which have many millionaire households, according to Michael Benz, global head of private banking at Standard Chartered.
"At the heart of private banking is providing advice"guiding finance with advise. With a number of top clients, the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region is still attractive and relevant for our industry," Benz said in an interview with Gulf Times. "Even with some headwinds in relation to oil price, these countries (GCC) look very good- especially when compared to the developed world."
"With more uncertainty, more people seek advise. That's a wealth of opportunity. That's where we want to come into the equation," said the Hong Kong-based Benz, who is responsible for developing, driving and executing the "private bank strategy to capture the growth opportunities" presented by Standard Chartered's footprint markets. Asked whether the current geopolitical uncertainties posed challenges for the private banking business, Benz said, "The more the uncertainty is"volatility is, the more clients will listen, I feel. They will seek our view. So it is an opportunity rather than a challenge."
He said Standard Chartered focused a lot on an "advisory-led private banking business".
"We just don't wait until our clients ask us. We go out proactively with clients, whenever we see these kinds of events happening € be it Greek financial crisis or the Chinese economic slowdown," Benz said.
On local banks' gaining expertise in private banking and wealth management, he said, "Private banking is one of the fastest growing sub segments of the financial industry. If you are in a business, where the pie is growing, it is much easier to live along with your competitors than if the pie is not growing anymore"or even shrinking."
He said every wealthy individual had the right to choose his/her bank € be it local or global.
"At Standard Chartered, we really want to look at ourselves as someone between the local the local and global banks," Benz said.
"Healthy competition is fine. I feel, local and global banks address different needs. Standard Chartered has been much longer in several markets than many other global banks. We still have more global reach than the local banks."
Standard Chartered currently runs a private banking business, worth about $60bn in assets, globally.
"Obviously, that's growing at a very nice pace," the Standard Chartered executive said.
The private banking business at Standard Chartered, he said "followed the exact geographical focus" of the bank overall, which is Asia, Middle East and Africa.
"These three regions are the fastest growing in terms of wealth creation. This is because many of them are emerging markets. For example, China, India, Indonesia, Middle East and Africa are the regions, where the fastest wealth creation is happening. It is almost a perfect marriage for private banking," Benz points out.
"An opportunity" for Standard Chartered in private banking is related to the "fact" that the bank has been in those markets for a long time, he said.
"For example, we have been in Greater China and India for more than 150 years. In East Africa, we have been more than 100 years. Obviously, in these three regions, we have very long-term client relationships, primarily on the corporate side"and many of these are multi-generational," Benz said.
Before joining Standard Chartered, Benz was the designated chairman for Asia at Julius Baer. His career spans more than 20 years in treasury, asset management and private banking.
Prior to his role at Julius Baer, he was the chief executive officer, wealth management (Asia Pacific) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he led the bank's wealth management business spanning Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, California, India and Japan.
In this role, Benz was instrumental to the successful sale and integration of the business into Julius Baer in 2013. He has also held various roles at UBS and Swiss Banking Corp.
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