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The Eleventh Annual WealthBriefing European Awards Winners 2023
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The Eleventh Annual WealthBriefing European Awards Winners 2023
Wealth is all about people. Your clients.
And when every client is unique, o -the-shelf advice is simply o the table.
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THERE IS NO AVERAGE INVESTOR. THIS IS NO AVERAGE SOLUTION. Visit refinitiv.com/wealth-management
Now in their eleventh year, the WealthBriefing European Awards are a great chance to salute those who drive outstanding client service, build businesses, and support the wider economy. As we know in these testing times, that work is more important than ever. It is vital to appreciate that a well-run wealth industry is not a luxury good but essential to modern free enterprise.
The centre of the awards is the judging process. A panel of judges, drawn from senior figures at banks, technology providers, law firms, multi-family offices, consultancies and other institutions work through entrants’ submissions to draw up a list of winners. Judges bring experience, knowledge and understanding to the table. The calibre of a submission plays a big role in determining who makes the shortlist, and who wins. Judges are divided into teams, so they do not vote on entrants from their own sectors. This avoids potential conflicts of interest and reduces bias. The list of judges is given on this publication’s website. We review award categories regularly and welcome feedback.
Reputation matters a great deal in the industry and these awards are important for branding and business development. The quality of people in wealth management, such as their commitment, work ethic and passion for the business, is at the core of all this. With global events continuing to pose challenges, these awards are a testament to those qualities.
Data on the growth in high net worth individuals, and their wealth, was more positive for 2021 – the latest year for which full data was available from Capgemini, than a year earlier when markets suffered under the pandemic. In the UK the HNW individual population rise by 6.3 per cent, and wealth expanded 78.4 per cent. Another market that helped drive robust growth in Europe was Denmark, with HNW wealth up 11.2 per cent, and the population rising 10.3 per cent. In France, there were 8.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent rises in HNW population and growth, respectively.
More broadly, the big swings in global financial markets and the heightened atmosphere of risk – made even more severe by the late-February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia – reminded HNW clients why good advice counts. A rise in interest rates after 12 years of ultra-low rates also jolted people into reconsidering investments and plans. Rising rates also
helped banks’ margins – a trend that continues.
Europe remains home to an impressive crop of big banks and smaller players. At the top end, there are names such as Societe Generale, ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Santander, Mediobanca, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Natwest Group and Indosuez Wealth Management. A long tail of small and medium-sized players, such as Schroders, Edmond de Rothschild, LGT, Investec, and Handelsbanken, are important. With multi-family offices and independent houses such as Stanhope Capital and Stonehage Fleming being vigorous players, this is a complex industry to track. And then throw in a cluster of private client advisors, lawyers, accountants, technology businesses and concierge specialists.
The sheer scale and variety of the European wealth ecosystem speaks to the regional variety, desire for specialism, and complexity, of the industry today.
Why Wealth Managers are the Ultimate Private Market Matchmakers (in partnership with Hywin Wealth & VP Bank)
This report tackles both the supply and demand for private market opportunities in both the Asia-Pacific region and globally, a topic which will continue to be hugely important for the wealth management industry as H/UHNWs seek enhanced returns and diversification in a challenging investment environment and billions of “dry powder” await deployment.
External Asset Managers in Asia - New Directions for Rapidly-Expanding Sector (in partnership with UBS)
Our second annual report examining the growth of Asia’s EAM sector, covering both the powerhouses of Singapore and Hong Kong, and emerging markets like Thailand and the Philippines. This study looks at the growth prospects for independent advisors in the round as they seek to tap the region’s booming wealth and growing client acceptance of the EAM model.
Family Office Focus: An Update of the Industry's Efficiency in Accounting and Investment Analysis (in partnership with FundCount)
A deep dive into the key technological and operational challenges facing family offices in their accounting and investment analysis activities. Based on surveys and interviews among family offices managing over $72
billion in assets, this is an invaluable benchmarking tool for the sector which presents fascinating insights into future developments from a range of industry experts.
Applying Artificial Intelligence in Wealth Management - Compelling Use Cases Across the Client Life Cycle (in partnership with Finantix & EY)
This comprehensive report identifies elements of the institution and advisor’s workloads that are ripe for AI amelioration, and points the way for firms seeking to maximise the competitive advantages offered by new technologies. AI experts and senior industry executives enrich each chapter, answering crucial questions on risk, KYC/AML, compliance, portfolio management and more.
Virtuous Circles: Sustainable Family Governance Models in an Evolving Environment
(in partnership with Jersey Finance)
Essential reading for UHNWs and their advisors, this report unites the findings of a global survey of practitioners and the views of a panel of experts drawn from leading firms, but perhaps most interestingly of all, the paper features a wealth of real-world examples illustrating what forward-thinking families are doing to create lasting legacies.
Winning Women in Asia-Pacific
(in partnership with VP Bank & Hywin Wealth) Asia-Pacific’s wealthy women represent a
highly attractive target client group. Yet, they remain an underserved one in many senses in spite of their growing financial power and pronounced need for professional advice. Our second report examining women’s specific needs presents truly actionable insights drawn from interviews with H/UHNWIs and their advisors right across the region.
2022
(in partnership with SS&C Advent)
This succinct yet wide-ranging report shines a light on both macro and micro trends, beginning with industry growth sentiment and ending on operating model evolution, taking in every key area of development in between. It brings together datapoints and candid comments senior executives at leading consultancies across the world’s major wealth markets to create an invaluable peer benchmarking tool.
Must Avoid 2022
(in partnership with EY)
With EY providing the overview, this report draws on the front-line experience of many of the technology sector’s biggest names, in recognition of the fact that they are the ones going in to solve wealth managers’ most pressing problems and have typically seen the ramifications of firms’ choices play out numerous times – not to mention in various contexts globally.
The WealthBriefing European Awards 2023 programme was focused around three main category groupings: experts (individuals and teams), products and services for wealth managers and clients, and institutions of all sizes and types in the European market.
Independence, integrity and genuine insight are the watchwords of the judging process with the judging panels made up of some of the industry’s top trusted advisors and bankers.
AUSAF ABBAS Managing Director Coombe Advisors
PANOS ARCHONDAKIS Senior Director for Banking and Wealth Management EPAM
GILLIAN AUSTIN-KING Global Head of Cyber Programmes HSBC Bank
PAUL AYRES Partner BDO
ERIC BARNETT Non Executive Director Various
PHILIPPE BONGRAND CEO FNZ
LIZ BOTTOMLEY General Manager - BOS Wealth Management UK Branch Bank of Singapore
JACQUI BRABAZON Chief Marketing Officer (Retired)
ROSALYN BREEDY Managing Director Breedy Henderson
SARAH COURTNEY DOCKETT Senior Private Banker, UK UHNW Team Citi
SEBASTIAN DOVEY Founder The Courageous Ideas Partnership
MATTHEW DRUMMOND-SMITH Associate Director and Head of Operations JM Finn
PIERRE DUPONT Managing Partner WIZE by TeamWork
STEVE DYSON Director Investment & Wealth Management Consultants
JAMES FLEMING Vice Chairman VAR Capital
GILLY GREEN Wealth Management Business Advisor
MARTIN HEALE Director Schroder US Wealth Management
MARK HUSSEIN CEO HSBC Life (UK) Head of UK Insurance HSBC Bank
A shortlist was identified from the hundreds of entries received for these awards and a discussion took place with the judges to agree the winner of each category. The judges were split into three groups, dependent on their industry; a panel of trusted advisors were responsible for judging the private banking categories; a panel of private bankers judges the trusted advisor categories; and new for this year we had a specialist group of tech experts judging the technology categories. This was to ensure that commercially sensitive information was kept confidential and conflicts of interest were avoided.
DANNY JONES Founding Partner Huddleston Jones
SEAN KIERNAN CEO and Founder Greengage
KEITH MACDONALD Senior Advisor Wealth Management EY
ROBERT MACRO Head of Private Client Druces
CHRISTINE MAR CIRIANI CEO InvestCloud EMEA
GRÉGOIRE MURE CEO Trustconsult Group S.A
ARABELLA MURPHY Founder & Director Propitious (London) Ltd
GLENN MURPHY Director Advise Advance Accelerate Ltd
TOM SLOCOCK Managing Director - Head of International Product Development and Origination iCapital Network
ADAM SORRIN Head of Data Management Natwest Group
MATTHEW SPENCER Advisor Various
BILLY STEPHENSON Chief Executive Stephenson Executive Search
IAIN TAIT Partner & Head of the Private Investment Office London & Capital
RICHARD THOMAS Head of UK Region EFG Private Bank
MIKE TOOLE Advisor Various
WILLIAM TROUT Director of Wealth Management Javelin Strategy & Research
BRUCE WEATHERILL Chief Executive Weatherill Consulting
IAN WOODHOUSE Lead Wealth Management Business Model Transformation and Thought Leader for Europe Accenture
We offer global broking solutions across the spectrum of Financial and Professional lines products, minimising those risks that impact the company’s financial health and wellbeing.
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WINNER: ABN Amro
WINNER: AI Compliance
WINNER: Amundi Technology
WINNER: Apex
WINNER: Artorius
WINNER: Atlantic Financial Group - Isabel Guggisberg
WINNER: Bank Syz
WINNER: Barclays Private Bank
WINNER: BNY Mellon Pershing
WINNER: Bordier UK
WINNER: Brown Shipley
WINNER: Capital Generation Partners
WINNER: Canoe Intelligence
WINNER: Charles River Development
In short, Abbove’s solution can be considered as a comprehensive wealth planning technology platform to help financial institutions digitise their complete holistic wealth advice services by improving data management, advisor efficiency and client experience.
In the first place, Abbove helps advisors to completely understand their clients’ wealth situation. The platform is equipped with structured and detailed inventories to store and organise data about a family’s relations, assets, gifts, financial objectives, etc. Connected to this database are different estate planning tools to help advisors serve their clients with the right advice, such as a financial planning tool, inheritance tax calculator and reporting tool. In the last place, the platform helps advisors to monitor their clients’ wealth situation on a continuous basis and to stay in regular touch.
Holistic wealth advice means consolidating and managing loads of client data. How’s your technology helping financial institutions in their data management?
Financial institutions have a complex network of tools, information systems and processes. A lot of data exists but it is fragmented, incomplete, not harmonised, not standardised, and therefore creates very little value for either the advisor or the client.
Abbove’s technology is connecting the dots of this fragmented ecosystem of tools and data to build wealth data model advisors can rely on to better understand and serve their clients.
How do you manage to integrate your technology in this complex ecosystem?
Integrating our solution into those to start developing innovative wealth planning services generally has a big impact on the institution. That’s why we developed an integration technology, called the File Integration Framework. Thanks to this technology, our platform can easily exchange data with the ultra-secure data systems of banks and integrate into their complex environment in a short time and with little effort from their side. Specifically, the technology makes it possible to send encrypted data in files from all different kinds of systems to Abbove’s platform that will then interpret the data.
The advantage of this system is that it is agnostic, meaning files can be sent from different systems, from portfolio management systems to CRM systems. In addition, the financial institutions do not necessarily need to dedicate integration experts to this project, people who can export data reports from their systems can do the job. Finally, the file integration framework also performs quality control.
Integration is 20% technology and 80% methodology. How do you cope with it?
This integration technology alone is not enough to fully incorporate our platform into the bank's offerings and environment. Implementing our platform means a complete process of digitalisation: established processes will be changed, systems will fit together differently, and people will collaborate in a different way. In other words, change management is crucial. That’s why we developed a methodology that accompanies the implementation of our technology and that helps banks to incorporate our solution from the beginning to the end. We guarantee a successful digital transformation.
ABN AMRO is the proud winner of the WealthBriefing award for "Best Overall European Private Bank". With its headquarters in the Netherlands, ABN AMRO is a leading eurozone private bank, with dedicated professionals who have in-depth knowledge of their clients.
Its prestigious brands - ABN AMRO MeesPierson (the Netherlands), Bethmann Bank (Germany), Neuflize OBC (France) and ABN AMRO Private Banking (Belgium) - represent ABN AMRO’s expertise in Northwest Europe.
WealthBriefing speaks to Choy van der Hooft-Cheong, ABN AMRO’s Chief Commercial Officer for Wealth Management, about the bank’s achievements, and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success.
Our bank is organised by clients’ needs, to make sure we put clients’ interests first. Because at ABN AMRO we believe you can only build truly lasting relationships by growing close to your clients. Our more than 350 years of experience in wealth management combined with our international expertise, local knowledge and expertise on sustainability form the foundation of our long-standing trusted client relationships. We operate as ‘one bank’ by taking a holistic approach.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
First of all, we could not be successful without the continued trust our clients have in us, and our staff’s ceaseless dedication
to our clients. Our trusted relationships with clients enable us to support them at all important (financial) steps in their lives. Furthermore, at ABN AMRO, it is our strategy to become ‘a personal bank in THE digital age. We use our digital channels and interactive tools where they genuinely add value in our clients’ lives. We are working hard to achieve the same client experience in every country.
At ABN AMRO our purpose ‘Banking for better, for generations to come’ is our compass, and we take our societal role seriously, by becoming the partner of choice in Northwest Europe in areas like climate change, the circular economy and social impact.
Since 2019, ESG Investing is our default option for investment products and solutions for new clients. Our efforts allowed us to double our sustainable clients’ assets since 2020 to €43 billion in 2022. We reached this milestone thanks to our commitment to integrating ESG into every aspect of the bank, but it would never have been possible without the drive of our clients wanting to invest in a sustainable future.
Going forward, we want to continue offering best-in-class products and services and continue building on our expertise in sustainability and private market solutions. Earning the trust of our clients through dedication and continual innovation.
We are very honoured and humbled that our ambition is recognised by clients and industry alike – having won awards and recommendations in the past two years across our four markets, with an overall Net Promoter Score of +12. It highly motivates all of us to continue to meet and exceed client expectations.
Ever since the start of our philanthropy services in 2012, now 10 years ago, ABN AMRO have strived to be front runners. Receiving this year’s Philanthropy Offering Award, for the fourth time in a row, is another great recognition of our work, for which we are immensely thankful. We see it as our duty to bridge the gap between philanthropists, charitable and social purpose organisations.
In our daily practice our clients share their personal stories, passions and values with us. As a service philanthropy advice adds value to client relations across borders. It is about inspiring and empowering our clients to do good. I see it as our role to bring philanthropists from different age groups together, and get them working together on topics such as climate change, poverty and health.
What challenges have you had to surmount to get to this point?
Building a philanthropy service at a bank requires time, patience and solid relationships with colleagues and clients. Over the past 10 years we have built a strong relationship with clients we have helped and guided. During the year we organise several philanthropy events where clients can meet peers and learn. The field of competitors is expanding. It is becoming increasingly clear that philanthropy advice is a distinctive service. This requires
us to focus more on excellent and best-in-class advisory, thought leadership, a client engagement programme and experiences that clients cannot get anywhere else.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
We believe we won the WealthBriefing Award because our comprehensive philanthropy strategy is not a bolt-on, but an integral part of ABN AMRO’s purpose: banking better, for generations to come. Our value-driven culture resonates with current and potential private banking clients. To provide clients with expert advice, we have to remain on top of our game. Our team members are able to follow an extensive curriculum covering all kinds of topics related to philanthropy, such as international development, financial management of philanthropic organisations, estate planning and many more.
Where in the world do you operate
We are a leading European private bank with over 350 years of experience. We serve our HNWI (more than €1 million investable assets) and UHNW individuals (more than €25 million investable assets) holistically, offering clients a complete spectrum of banking, financial, estate planning and investment products and services. Besides, there is a close collaboration between our prestigious brands ABN AMRO MeesPierson (the Netherlands), Bethmann Bank (Germany), Neuflize OBC , (France) and ABN AMRO Private Banking (Belgium) to strengthen our one bank philosophy and share knowledge and expertise.
What are your ambitions for the business?
Wealth management needs to be a holistic practice taking into account the personal situation and wishes of clients and social, economic and ecological developments. We live in an increasingly globalised and fast changing world, wealth management needs to be adept to guide clients through it. Sustainability and globalisation are not trends, they are facts that impact every aspect of our lives.
AI Compliance is a SaaS platform which provides businesses with an intuitive regulatory and legislative library offering companies multiple plan functionality, live KPI positions and tailored remediation trackers for each plan. It’s a one stop digitised platform for operational monitoring.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
We have talented and committed people, our people are passionate about their work, knowledgeable, and experienced which helps the firm innovate, adapt to change, and achieve its goals.
Client feedback is vital in our success. We have test run our product with several industry leaders to understand improvements with user functionality and data quality and we will continue to listen to feedback from clients to maintain a high standard. Compliance monitoring is a vital part of the compliance function when overseeing a whole business, but it doesn’t just have to be a compliance monitoring plan it can be any number of business monitoring plans.
What ambitions are there for the business?
• Grow its operations into new markets by entering new geographies and introducing new products and services as an extension to our existing offering;
• Innovation: developing new products, services, or processes that differentiate us from standard practises to provide additional value to our clients;
• Social responsibility and making a positive impact on our workforce and society, areas such as women in business, mental health awareness, menopause, diversity & inclusion. I want to make life easier in a corporate world
where we can share challenges, lightening the load in operational adherence and administration.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
The complexity and volume of regulations and standards that must be followed. This can make compliance a burdensome and time-consuming process and may create inefficiencies or delays in the delivery of identifying vulnerabilities.
Another change would be to simplify and streamline the regulatory environment. The technology available for regulation and legislation is not easy to use and when changes are made this can take weeks or months to implement into a business’s plan.
Lastly there is a need to increase transparency and accountability in the compliance function with a commitment to ongoing monitoring and improvement of compliance processes and understanding the penalties of accountability.
What challenges have you had to surmount to get to this point?
Working with my developers at the beginning was a huge challenge, my compliance language and their tech language took time to interpret. How the content is communicated, structured, and laid out is vital for the developer to understand back-end and front-end capability. I had to trust more in the team that what I had in my head could be translated into tech.
Creating intuitive regulations wasn’t easy. The format of regulation and legislation currently presents limitations; however, we have overcome this through painful breakdowns and good coding. Now when something is updated, it automatically updates our end too which is the comfort our users can have when having access to real time requirements.
Georgina Reid Founder and Director AI ComplianceWinner
• Most Promising New Entrant
• Specialist Wealth Manager with AuM Up To £2 Billion
• Multi-Family Office Between £1-3 Billion AuM
Please explain why you think you has been able to achieve a level of success?
Artorius is still a relatively new firm which has grown up during a period of significant change in the wealth management sector. This has been driven to an extent by regulation and change in client demand, but also by factors outside its control such as Covid followed by a global economic slowdown because of the war in Ukraine.
One of the key reasons we have been successful is our ability to focus on client service throughout this period when there have often been more questions than answers. Having the time to work through the most difficult topics with clients to find the right solutions is critical, these are often beyond wealth. For our clients, leaving a legacy is more than just an accumulation of money. That personal approach means managing our time is essential, especially when it comes to working with our larger family office clients.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
Everyone at Artorius owns a share in the business which keeps us all focused on ensuring everything we do is in the best interest of clients and therefore the business.
Several of our clients are also shareholders in Artorius. They are helpfully always quick to point out any potential enhancements that we should make that would improve the quality of the service we provide. Our people and relationships are the key driver to our success.
What are your ambitions for the business?
Having a clear vision of what we want to achieve with the business and to challenge ourselves constantly to make sure we are on track with that ambition. As the business grows there will be areas that will need added focus so that we are able to grow and scale at the right time and pace.
This is a long-term business, and we need to grow our revenue patiently and profitably, without compromising the level of service.
The wealth management industry covers a very broad spectrum of business types and sizes, all of whom are largely speaking, regulated by the FCA. Many businesses are undergoing significant change, which is time consuming and costly. Some of these changes are orientated around technology upgrades and improvements whilst others are focused on business model alteration due to mergers of one or more businesses.
What would be helpful to the industry is to have a regulatory framework that was less of a moving target. Undergoing change programs can often take a couple of years, a change in regulation mid project can put them back months if not years. This is particularly difficult for smaller less well-resourced firms and often makes the economics of change programs less compelling.
Firms then become nervous about change and therefore evolve much slower, which ultimately is not a good outcome for clients.
Please explain what you think makes your firm successful in its chosen field?
Our successes can be attributed to a culture of strong values and our dedication to providing personalised, high-quality wealth management services to our clients.
Where in the world do you operate – are you mainly a domestic player or international?
We are Swiss-rooted, but we operate globally, serving both private and institutional clients, out of four offices in Switzerland and international offices in Turkey, South Africa and a newly created advisory office in Uruguay.
Our international development with offices close to our clients aims at delivering excellent service and investment advice with proximity to our clients.
We are attentive and flexible in the way we serve them. Given our entrepreneurial mindset, we always try to find the best solution for our clients, even if the path to it has not yet been paved.
What have been the main obstacles you had to overcome and how did you do so to reach this level?
Obstacles are an inevitable reality of every business, in every industry. This has been especially true in 2022, which was an exceptionally complex year for markets globally.
But thankfully, we have been able to overcome them through our ability to adapt and evolve, while remaining true to our values.
What are the main contributions do you think you bring to the wealth management industry?
We believe we bring a unique perspective to the wealth management industry, as a family-owned and managed business created with a will to innovate.
We have built our success around the idea of delivering value to our clients, the importance of alternative investments, the democratisation of private equity, and most recently the integration of digital assets into a comprehensive portfolio paradigm.
What does success look like you – can this be measured in hard numbers, or in qualitative ways, or both?
Success for us is about building and maintaining the trust of our clients through the delivery of value: providing the best possible service, unlocking new investment opportunities, establishing authentic human relationships.
Financial results should only come as a consequence of this.
Whom do you look to in terms of ideas and inspiration? What other business sectors do you follow for ideas?
As a family-owned and managed private banking group, we look to our family heritage and values as well as to leaders in various industries for inspiration.
But perhaps more importantly, we strive to create a culture that encourages innovative thinking withing the organisation.
What position would you like your firm to hold in its sector in five years’ time?
In five years, we hope to continue to be recognised as one of the leading independent private banking groups in Switzerland, while expanding our reach to serve more international clients, offering them the best products and services that the industry has to offer.
"Our successes can be attributed to a culture of strong values and our dedication to providing personalised, high-quality wealth management services to our clients."
• UK Domestic Clients Team
• UK Charity Team
• Rising Star Under 30
• Leading Individual (Banker)
Barclays Private Bank provides investment, banking, lending and wealth advisory solutions to the world’s most influential people and their families in 40 countries through our global network of private bankers. Annabelle Bryde is Head of the UK Private Bank and Crown Dependencies, responsible for driving scalable growth across our UK, Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man platforms.
Where in the world do you operate? Are you mainly a domestic or international player?
Driven by our desire to put clients first, and to create opportunities for collaboration and economies of scale, we offer a regional coverage model centred on serving clients in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia and Africa. Our Domestic UK Private Bank team manages UK resident client relationships from London, as well as a number of locations across the country. In parallel, the International UK Private Bank team focuses on non-UK domiciled clients resident in the UK and overseas.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
We combine the right people, ideas, and opportunities to help our clients achieve their financial and lifestyle goals. By working closely with our clients, we can help fulfil their wealth’s potential, and lay foundations for their family and business to flourish. We also offer wealth advisory services and a complimentary philanthropy service. This particular service can help to make an even more positive contribution to the societies in which we work and live.
I have been encouraged to see the Private Bank growing year-on-year. The Group recently announced its full-year 2022 results, with the Private Bank performing strongly and delivering income growth. These numbers are far from the only criteria on which we judge our success. We have four key stakeholders to whom we hold ourselves accountable: our clients, our colleagues, our communities, and our investors. Finally, we’re very aware of the growing expectations of us to serve our communities well, partly by managing the environmental and social impact of our business and investments. We’re aware that sustainable solutions are not always immediately apparent, or transparent. Supporting our clients in navigating this complex and nascent field, will be another key measure of our future success.
My main ambition is to continue to focus on growth, both in the UK and Crown Dependencies. As part of this ongoing mission, we aim to enhance our specialist investments and use our digital channels to improve our clients’ experiences. We have several promising initiatives in the pipeline that should help us in our efforts to deliver consistent excellence when it comes to client service. Likewise, we’re continuing to invest in our people, and the expertise they bring to our clients is paramount. Equally importantly, I am also passionately committed to Barclays’ ambition to become a net-zero bank by 2050. Needless-to-say, we are clear that addressing climate change is an urgent challenge that demands a fundamental shift in the global economy.
BNP Paribas Wealth Management
• Private Bank - Client Service
• Private Bank - Customer Facing Digital Capabilities (Banking)
• Private Bank - Customer Facing Digital Capabilities (Investments)
• Wealth Management Business - Central or Eastern European Region
BNP Paribas Wealth Management is a leading global private bank and the largest private bank in the Eurozone with €411 billion worth of AuM. Present in Europe and in Asia, it employs 6,800 professionals who support U/HNW individuals, entrepreneurs and leading families in protecting, growing and passing on their assets.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success. What are your ambitions for the business?
We launched our Client Experience Program in 2017, with the conviction that we must anticipate the evolution in our clients’ expectations. Over the past years, we have lived an unprecedented acceleration of digital transformation in our professional and personal lives. To meet this challenge, we have created a New Wealth Management Experience, combining the best of human interaction with digital technology, for an unparalleled experience that offers new opportunities to interact and discover, for our clients and private bankers.
Our development of digital services is a continuous cycle that keeps pace with the ever-changing needs of our clients, across 3 themes:
• Holistic: designed to cover all steps of the client life cycle and our areas of expertise;
• Personalised: relevant information and services in line with our clients’ own distinctive profile;
• Hybrid: available anywhere, through our clients’ preferred channel.
As a recognised leader in private banking, BNP Paribas Wealth Management offers distinctive financial expertise to our clients, notably in advisory, private equity, impact solutions and wealth planning.
One of the latest achievements is the launch of a digital solution dedicated to in-vestments in private assets - Private equity, real estate, infrastructure: the Private Assets Portal. This new digital platform offers clients real time access to all information regarding their investments in private asset funds to which they sub-scribed via electronic signature. It provides clients a 360° view of portfolios with detailed geographies, strategies or currencies. The platform also provides a detailed reporting on the performance of each fund and their consolidated portfolio. Clients automatically receive notifications as soon as new information about one of their investments is published on the portal.
To go further:
Digitalisation of the Private Equity investment journey Further expanding the digital services offering (www.wealthmanagement.bnpparibas)
“We are thrilled with this new recognition. I believe that our ability to work as one team across divisions and countries is one of the keys to our success. Our ambition is to offer our clients a global experience covering all areas of expertise."
At BNY Mellon’s Pershing, when you succeed, we succeed. As you look to drive growth, manage costs, stay ahead of regulations and attract the best people, we partner with you to power your business with flexible technology, industry expertise and dedication to maximise opportunities—fully-focused on helping you build your business today towards a bigger tomorrow.
To find out more, contact us: info@pershing.co.uk
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
Pershing has a long and successful history, having served clients in multiple markets for over 80 years, including 35 years in the UK. For 20 years now, we have been an integral part of BNY Mellon, the world’s largest custodians.
BNY Mellon has been at the forefront of change in the financial world for over 230 years, with a demonstrated ability to operate through times of calm and crisis.
Cecile Nagel CEO EMEAIn turbulent times like the ones we recently experienced, clients truly value our strength and resiliency. This has been and remains a key part of our success.
We also continue to innovate. We recently reached an important technology milestone with the upgrade of our core platform. This provides us with a modern and flexible infrastructure to grow and develop the business, adding tools and functionality to serve our clients better.
Being close to our clients and understanding their priorities and needs is critical and a key part of my role. I also encourage everyone at Pershing EMEA to take ownership and be commercial. All of us, including IT and operations or control functions such as risk and compliance, have a role to play in understanding and serving our clients, developing new ideas and executing on these.
Where in the world do you operate?
Pershing is a global business, with operations in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and a growing presence in Asia.
Our UK business is focused on wealth managers, we help to grow and develop their offering. Supported by our offices in Jersey and Dublin, we provide local market expertise for those looking to expand beyond purely UK audiences. Our objective is to allow our clients to focus on servicing their clients and delivering value.
We are also working towards expanding our footprint in Europe further. The characteristics of the wealth industry makes this a country-by-country exercise, catering for investor preferences, local legal and tax rules, etc.
What are your ambitions for the business?
My top priorities are simplifying the business, building scale, and better serving our clients. We continue to introduce services like our upgraded SIPP solutions and enhanced investor reporting, underpinning our dedication to meeting clients’ needs, and supporting their own success.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
Despite the pace of technology transformation in recent years, wealth management remains an industry still largely powered by legacy systems. Consolidation acts as a catalyst for tech simplification: it reveals the extent to which outdated systems are impacting efficiencies.
Our people are key to our success. We constantly grow and develop our talent.
To resolve it, integration and interoperable systems are key. The wealth management industry also needs to be moving towards industry integration standards which will help us future-proof technology. This is definitely an area of focus for us as we will aim to continue to deliver robust and innovative solutions for our clients.
"BNY Mellon has been at the forefront of change in the financial world for over 230 years, with a demonstrated ability to operate through times of calm and crisis."
"Our people are key to our success. We constantly grow and develop our talent."
Highly Commended
Winner
• Specialist Wealth Manager with AuM Over £5 Billion
• Discretionary Fund Management (DFM) Offering
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
Bordier UK are a specialist investment manager, based in St James’s, London. As part of the independent Bordier Group (established in Geneva in 1844), we are one of the few private, family-owned businesses of scale operating in the UK discretionary fund management market.
As a family-owned business, we are entirely independent and have no external shareholders – another aspect which helps to differentiate us from many of our peers. Rather than focusing on appeasing often impatient investors, interested only in short-term profits, we can be genuinely long-term in our outlook and focus on what is most important – our clients.
Bordier UK work with domestic and international clients, providing investment services, in partnership with their introducers, managing assets for trusts, family offices, pension schemes, charities and livery companies. A core advantage of our global Group structure enables our clients to access a wide range of international investment management and private banking services for UK resident and non-domiciled, non-resident non-domiciled and expatriate clients.
With ten other offices spread across six countries and three continents, Bordier Group is a truly global business, managing around £14.4bn of assets for 4,200 families.
Bordier Group’s financial strength and stability provides our clients with even greater comfort. The Group’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was last measured at 33.7%. Our considerable financial strength and healthy solvency ratio is industry-leading meaning our clients can rest easy at night.
Our clients define our success. First and foremost, Bordier strive to deliver excellent outcomes for our clients. An alignment of interests is something we believe clients look for in their investment manager – and many of our senior investment team have money invested alongside our clients.
To deliver sustained success it is important to have business stability. Our staff turnover is very low and has been for over a decade, which we feel is a key advantage over our peers. Our Chairman and CIO have been working together for close to 30 years and our Investment Committee members have an average of 24 years of industry experience – The recent addition of Adam Sketchley to our investment team only strengthens our capabilities in this area.
As a business we set ourselves high standards and constantly look to achieve better outcomes for our clients. We recognise the changing needs of our clients and to remain successful we continually invest and evolve our approach to investment management.
Last year we launched our Risk Targeted Decumulation service, for advisers and their clients. Retirement income is an area which has garnered focus from the FCA and the industry more broadly. The new service fulfils a key role in managing sequencing risk for clients in drawdown. It shifts the focus from performance-driven accumulation to investment strategies that put capital preservation first and seeks to minimise the risk of eroding capital values in falling markets, whilst the client continues to take a fixed regular income
Doing what is right for our clients requires a team approach. No one individual within Bordier has defined our success, this has been the result of collective achievement and hard work. There is a great feeling of passion and pride among all Bordier employees when all their hard work is recognised by our peers and prestigious industry accolades.
We’re here to help you invest in the things that matter most in your life.
We are experienced in developing borrowing solutions which meet the needs of wealthy individuals. Lending is an important part of our integrated wealth management service. Making financial decisions and taking advantage of opportunities can require flexible lending solutions. Our facilities are designed to blend seamlessly with our other services, to find swift, often creative solutions that are right for clients, supporting the delivery of their overall wealth plan. We have continued to develop this by streamlining our credit approval process to introduce further efficiencies and ultimately enable faster decisions for clients.
For some clients, lending can also be tax appropriate and we work collaboratively with their relevant external advisers to tailor an effective solution. We regularly work closely with our wealth planning and investment management colleagues to understand our clients’ wider wealth plan with a holistic view of full financial position. Upon reviewing any existing or new debt requirements, we consider how loans can be structured in an efficient way. We have lending specialists across the UK who can advise, tailor and unravel complexity to meet a particular liquidity or financing need.
As an advice-led business, we believe in providing the highest levels of personal service. We focus on developing strong relationships with clients and their families over generations to become and maintain our position as their trusted adviser and partner. Over the course of this year, we have seen continual increases in the cost of borrowing and, added to this, the challenges of market volatility.
This has been a challenge for all our clients, our approach is to work closely with clients, to regularly communicate with them, understand their concerns and requirements and to help them adjust to this new normal.
Initially, the reaction from many clients was that they started to give more consideration to repaying their loan facilities. It was a double-edged sword as investment markets remained volatile and the cost of debt was increasing. Our solution in response to this was to provide maximum flexibility, which for some clients involved utilising the flexibility of a revolving facility so they could repay and redraw when required, which in turn would reduce the immediate cost of their interest.
We continue to build and work on innovative lending solutions for our clients. These include the launch of ‘The Lending Platform’ in January 2022 further advanced in 2023 - an automated platform, which makes use of technology and digitalisation, to allow for faster decision making and improving time to market. Typically the tool allows turnarounds between 24 – 48 hours for a decision and documentation to the client. This has also led to a reduction in paper, more competitive rates and a streamlined application process.
We benefit from our short reporting lines creating quicker turnaround and decision making. Our ability to understand complex structures and situations to deliver the right lending solution for clients.
When it comes to protecting sensitive data, a strong infrastructure should be a critical priority for all firms, especially in the financial industry where the nature of the information introduces even more risk. In particular, investment document and data management applications should have a robust cybersecurity program to handle sensitive and confidential information. Without adequate security measures, the consequences can be serious, with risks including data or document loss, accidental deletion, and unauthorised sharing. The fallout from such incidents can be significant, resulting in permanent data loss, disruption to business operations, and reputational harm.
Drawing insight from Canoe’s Technology Leadership Team, the following checklist explores the types of security vulnerabilities wealth managers and other alternative investors face when working with technology vendors and how to effectively manage these risks.
1. Compliance with security standards: Vendors should demonstrate a strategy for governance, risk, and compliance, with certifications such as SOC2, ISO 27001, or PCI-DSS. These certifications indicate that the vendor has undergone rigorous security assessments and adheres to industry best practices for data protection.
2. Access controls: Vendors should implement strong access controls, ensuring that data access is limited to authorised individuals on a need-toknow basis. Multi-factor authentication and role-based access controls are effective measures to prevent data leaks and insider threats.
3. Authentication: Vendors should require multiple layers of authentication to protect against unauthorised access, even if login credentials are compromised. Multi-factor authentication, password complexity enforcement, and session timeouts significantly reduce the risk of financial loss, data breaches, and reputational damage.
4. Contractual agreements: Contracts with vendors should outline their responsibilities for data protection and their response in the event of a breach. Regular security audits and assessments should be included in these agreements to ensure ongoing compliance.
5. Encryption: Vendors should employ robust encryption methods to safeguard data both at rest and in transit. Encryption should be used for data storage and transmission over networks to prevent interception by hackers. Email notifications should not contain sensitive information as most emails are not encrypted.
6. Incident response: Vendors should have a well-defined security incident response plan in place to quickly address breaches or data loss incidents. Rigorous monitoring and auditing procedures help detect and prevent suspicious activities, protecting clients' trust and data.
7. Regular security assessments: Vendors should undergo regular security assessments, including penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and security audits. These assessments identify and address weaknesses in systems and processes, staying ahead of emerging threats.
8. Logging, monitoring, and alerting: Vendors should employ logging tools and security information and event management (SIEM) systems to monitor and consolidate alerts from security tools and critical infrastructure. Logging user actions provides an audit trail and ensures quick detection of potential issues.
Canoe is a trusted provider of enterprise technology solutions for alternative investors that prioritises the security and privacy of client data. Canoe employs an approach that involves collaboration, extensive knowledge sharing, and a focus on delivering secure and efficient products to customers. Canoe's security measures align with or exceed industry standards to ensure multiple layers of protection are implemented.
WealthBriefing is the leading subscription-based business intelligence service for the wealth management community, with the latest news, analysis and in-depth features from around the globe. WealthBriefing subscribers are part of an international community for whom staying abreast of the latest industry developments is a crucial part of their professional practice. Readers find our content on topics such as strategy, M&A, important people moves, investment management and asset allocation to be an essential resource in a fast-moving world.
The Asia-Pacific region’s meteoric rise as a major wealth management market has sparked huge demand for region-specific business information. WealthBriefingAsia was launched in 2009 to satisfy this growing information requirement, and it is the only wealth management news site focusing exclusively on the Asia-Pacific region. Providing indispensable news, features and industry views that are always relevant and concise, WealthBriefingAsia allows subscribers to conserve that most precious of all resources: time.
A unique thought-leadership platform, WealthBriefing’s events foster intellectual debate on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry and are designed to be an optimal use of wealth managers’ precious time and present an excellent networking opportunity.
The North American wealth management market is one of the largest and most diverse in the world, and is markedly different from those in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Multi and single family offices in particular are a well-entrenched,integral part of the private wealth management landscape. Family Wealth Report provides need to know business intelligence in a convenient and easy-to-read format – straight to subscribers’ inboxes every day. Nowhere else will you find such high quality, in-depth and often exclusive content all in one place.
WealthBriefing has added to its offering for the global private banking and wealth management communities by running thirteen annual awards programmes for the family office, private banking, wealth management and private client communities. The awards programmes are focused around three main category groupings: experts (individuals and teams); products and services for wealth managers and clients, and institutions of all sizes and types
WealthBriefing has unrivalled access to the most senior wealth management professionals across the globe, meaning that our research reports represent guides to future best practice as much as being barometers of current industry trends.
Capital Generation Partners is a private investment office for families and their associated charities and endowments, offering multi asset portfolio management, commercial real estate and direct investment services.
The firm has just under $4bn in AuM with 50 professionals based in Berkeley Square, Mayfair.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
I think the phrase that it takes years to become an overnight success sums up our trajectory; we’re in a great place, but the truth is we’ve built this business slowly.
That’s our secret, we’ve chosen to work with one particular type of client and we’ve painstakingly built this business to serve them in the best possible way over many years. We’ve been in no rush to grow, but by hiring the right people, investing in the right technology and working very closely with our clients, we’ve built something we’re really proud of.
What challenges have you had to surmount to get to this point?
Our biggest challenge overall has been managing growth. There’s always the temptation when you’re doing well, to venture into new areas. You see it so often in our industry; a little success can turn into a lot of ambition, particularly since launching new products has the potential to be so lucrative.
The challenge is to find that goldilocks level of growth; getting better at what you do for clients by investing in people, technology, and services, without getting overexcited and
reaching too far into new and unfamiliar ground. I like to think that we’ve managed that process well, but there’s no doubt that it’s not always a straightforward path.
We are an international business, in fact most of our clients are based outside of the UK, with the majority in Europe, the Middle East and the US (we are SEC licensed as well as FCA).
One of the things that makes us distinctive is that clients aren’t captive to our own platform; we work with every major custodian in every major jurisdiction in the world.
Indeed, many of our clients are based in multiple regions. We’re built to work with complex structures.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would that be?
If I could change one thing, it would be for more firms to take a pause and think more deeply about what we’re doing and who we’re doing it for. Sometimes there can be a sizeable gap between the end client and the people making products, and that gap can easily get filled with greenwashing, confusing information and product pushing.
We’re in the lucky position of knowing every one of our clients and their advisors, so we’re personally accountable for what we say and do, but I don’t think that’s always the case in our industry.
The truth of it is, the more responsive you can be to actual client needs, the more resilient your business will be over the long term.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
Charles River began as a technology provider for institutional asset managers and our wealth business grew out of that. Therefore, our wealth solution is built to meet the needs of institutional managers, giving wealth firms powerful capabilities with the flexibility and extensibility needed to succeed today, all while allowing managers who run both wealth and institutional business lines to use a single platform.
Our technology is built 100% in-house. That is a significant advantage that helps us keep pace with rapidly advancing technology needs and to meet the needs of our global clients.
We devote a significant amount of budget to research and development, and our teams of highly skilled technologists and professionals are agile thinkers and problem solvers, committed to our end users and engineering excellence. We use mentorship and teamwork to impact and drive our business forward every day.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
Charles River’s significant annual research and development investment ensures continuous innovation and improvement across the entire platform and enables more responsive and personalised levels of client service. We invest over USD $80M annually across the Charles River product suite with USD $10M allocated to our wealth management solution.
We credit much of our success to our clients – forming partnerships and staying constantly engaged with our clients is critical. Their feedback directly informs our product development strategy.
Our colleagues in engineering, product, and client management are the individuals who form those client partnerships. We work collaboratively across geographies and markets to ensure that we provide technological leadership and innovation to the global wealth management community.
Explain what benefits your firm and colleagues get from these awards?
Garnering awards and recognition in regions outside of North America is important for Charles River Development. We are a global company and committed to serving the needs of wealth managers across the world.
This award from WealthBriefing Europe will support our business strategy in EMEA.
Our aim for the Charles River Wealth Management Solution is to provide the most comprehensive wealth solution in the industry built on modern, cloud-driven technology platform that provides clients with flexibility and choice.
Wealth managers and advisors have many challenges to contend with today – we partner with our clients to solve their everyday problems and give them the tools they need to reach their business goals and grow.
We support the full lifecycle of change from strategic solution design to implementation and delivery, working alongside our clients to deliver enhanced benefit and value to their customers.
Find out more about our transformative services www.deloitte.co.uk
Deloitte’s Wealth Management Consulting team support the spectrum of different wealth management businesses, across Private Banking, DFM, Life and Pension, Advised and D2C platform propositions. These clients are the largest in the industry across UK and Europe, serving the majority of private client and retail investors.
We have successfully executed core wealth technology change programmes from a combination of advisory to delivery projects for over £1tn of assets, working with all the major technology and service vendors providing strategic advice, implementation partnership and BAU services.
Our teams are made up of experts from across our global network of member firms, aligned to the client’s specific needs. Because of our scale, we are able to flex when needed and offer support to clients in initial strategic advice and throughout the implementation stages.
We measure our success by the success of our clients, and their ability to deliver to their customers and make an impact that matters. We are passionate about our role in leading innovation in the wealth management industry, supporting financial wealth and wellbeing, and helping customers meet their strategic ambitions.
Our diversified and growing client base, together with an expanding team, are indicators of the strength of our relationships in the sector.
Describe how your colleagues made a difference?
Our team is one of our big differentiators. They utilise their deep industry experience to provide expert advice, and pride themselves on building long term
relationships with our clients. They are deeply invested in our clients’ outcomes and in creating a culture of collaboration and diversity. We support clients across a range of service areas, and we pride ourselves on being an organisation that can cover our clients largest and most complex challenges, harnessing our breadth and depth of capability.
What are your ambitions for the business?
We want to use our influence and scale to deliver purposeful impact across the wealth management industry, supporting the development of areas such as financial wellbeing and sustainable investment for example.
We are also committed to owning sustainable delivery, limiting the impact of our delivery on the climate but not the impact of change we bring to our clients.
Adopting a digital first delivery approach, prioritising travel for moments that truly matter, choosing sustainable transport and involving our client in those discussions. We are long-term strategic partners to our clients, who we know are all focused on a sustainable future, and we believe we can best achieve that together.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
Democratisation of financial advice services are empowering a growing range of people to take control of their families and descendants’ financial futures and achieve key life ambitions along the way, such as saving for a house, retirement, or inheritance.
I want great financial advice and management as accessible as possible, embracing digital tools to deliver this, ensuring younger generations have the awareness and education to confidently engage.
Suky Sandhu Partner, Investment Management and Wealth Deloitte• Private Client Law Firm
• Private Client Lawyer
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success.
We seem to have been able to create a virtuous circle for ourselves in the last few years. Druces has been doing private wealth advisory work for centuries – literally - but our recent track record is significant.
It’s been a case of success breeding success. Building on a solid foundation, we’ve had good people join the team; we’ve been winning more high-quality business off the back of that and our standing in the market has grown accordingly… and so on; a virtuous circle.
This latest recognition from WealthBriefing seems to prove my point and I’m delighted to see our efforts rewarded in this way.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
When I took up the reins of the department, I looked to my fellow partners to help drive growth in the various practice areas which were their sweet spot.
So we created the role of “Head of...” under my overall leadership, and I looked to those smaller teams to develop their own plans.
I have always believed that flat management structures work well in professional services firms, and I aim to approach my own role as overall head of private wealth with a light touch, so far as possible.
Where in the world do you operate – are you mainly a domestic player or international?
Druces has always been a single office, City of London firm and we play to our strengths.
From our City base, we will always take UK domestic work as seriously as we take the international side of our practice, despite the tendency for offshore work to steal most of the limelight in our industry. Our recent track record points to growth across the board.
We have been doing more and more international work where we are not so much advising trustees or the ultimate beneficiaries, but acting for the service providers themselves: adviser to the advisers.
What are your ambitions for the business?
Druces has always been a firm that cherishes its heritage as well as being resolutely focused on the future.
Our WealthBriefing award win is actually a good moment for us to take stock of what we’ve built and look again at our plans for the next 5 years.
I expect us to continue to grow in head count and in turnover. I am also keen to make sure that we continue to nurture our internal networks too, partnering with our Residential Property team (recently recognised in Legal 500 and flourishing in the Prime Central London market).
Likewise with our corporate lawyers where there is a fruitful collaboration around the family business sector and investment opportunities for our (U)HNW clients.
No doubt the WealthBriefing award marks the beginning of the next chapter of our story in the top-flight of private wealth lawyers.
"Druces has always been a firm that cherishes its heritage as well as being resolutely focused on the future."
Earth Capital Limited (ECL) was co-founded by Stephen Lansdown CBE and Gordon Power. We are an early-stage growth equity investment manager, investing across UK and Europe in clean technology solutions that either mitigate the effects of climate change or accelerate the transition to net zero.
Our investment approach is underpinned by the need to navigate a social and ecological transformation to a just, sustainable, and prosperous society.
We are delighted to have won the ESG award as part of WealthBriefing’s European Awards. This is a great recognition of Earth Capital Ltd’s commitment to sustainable investment and responsible practices. We are excited by the opportunity for new partnerships and collaborations as part of this recognition, expanding our reach and impact even further.
We are UK based with a UK and Europe investment focus. With climate change being a global issue, it is important that our companies are able to expand geographically and provide solutions on a global scale. We therefore work with our management teams to grow internationally, leveraging our experience and networks.
Our award-winning Earth Dividend™ portfolio management tool provides a holistic overview of an investment's impact on
sustainable development and focuses on the connection between positive impact and commercial value. By using the Earth Dividend™, we are able to measure the success of our investments in a way that prioritises sustainability and delivers long-term value for all stakeholders.
What are your ambitions for the business?
We are currently focused on our deal-by-deal co-investment strategy in order to develop close relationships with investors and LPs, ahead of a planned fund launch in 2024.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
It would be good to see further funds committed to emerging managers who can bring diversity of thought, experience and strategic focus to the table. It’s important that a variety of funds at all sizes and stages are invested in, rather than relying on a small number of large fund managers. By doing so, we can ensure that fresh perspectives are introduced to the industry.
With the climate crisis now a reality that we can no longer ignore, and the devastating effects of climate change being seen every day, it is clear that a significant increase in investment into the sector is required to tackle the issue. We need the commitment of investors of all sizes to invest more into finding solutions.
Although huge levels of investment are required into infrastructure, it is clear that new and better ways of operating are needed so those technologies that can help support this transition must be identified, nurtured, grown and expanded globally.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
EFG Private Bank offers local and international expertise to deliver truly entrepreneurial solutions for its clients. Our teams have considerable experience of dealing with multi-faceted clients wanting a committed and long-term bank; delivering simple solutions for their complex needs.
Our clients are truly at the heart of everything we do. The longevity of service of our CROs and other colleagues make this possible. I have been working in he industry for over 30 years. I joined EFG Private Bank Ltd in 2018 and I have since been building the team and integrating our wealth planning expertise across the business.
My team and I work closely with the CROs to ensure that clients’ wealth is structured efficiently and takes advantage of tax reliefs. The bulk of the team’s work is cash-flow planning, tax structuring and succession planning.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
EFG Private Bank attracts entrepreneurial minds with its Swiss heritage, long-lasting client relationships and highly personalised service for HNW and UHNWs.
A full-service UK private bank with international reach, we are large enough to provide security and stability yet nimble enough to craft bespoke solutions to clients’ unique, and often complex, needs.
Explain what benefits your firm and colleagues get from these awards.
This is the industry’s recognition of our strong wealth planning expertise. We have spent a great deal of time investing in building our UK business and hiring experienced specialists.
Our values of collaboration, innovation and adaptability never felt more appropriate.
I am confident we can carry on this positive momentum to build a profitable and sustainable growth in 2023 and beyond.
EFG in the UK has a strong presence in London and is strategically well positioned to attract global wealth. Being part of a large Swiss Group established in the UK for almost 30 years means that we can offer local and global expertise to all our clients, wherever they are based.
With almost three decades in business in the UK, EFG Private Bank is a modern private bank, strategically positioned to attract global wealth, with offices in London and Birmingham as well as subsidiaries in Jersey and Cyprus.
Many of our clients are non-UK resident and have a touch point in the UK via their banking relationship with a UK-based CRO. We help clients from many different jurisdictions to understand both the impact of UK and non-UK taxes on their UK and non-UK assets.
Additionally, we cater to UK resident non-domiciled individuals who have particularly advantageous tax circumstances but require considerable guidance to understand their complexities and to make sure their EFG portfolios do not fall foul of the legislation.
Ultimately, our clients benefit from our financial stability and our global reach. With our scalable multi-shore platform, we operate hubs in Switzerland, Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
Our clients think differently and so do we, empowering them to create value in their own fields of expertise.
"Our clients are truly at the heart of everything we do. The longevity of service of our CROs and other colleagues make this possible."Ken Chapman of Wealth Planning EFG Private Banking • UK International Wealth Planning Team Winner
Elkstone began as a single-family office with private capital that focused on venture and real estate - we continue to directly invest in both areas. As an alternative investment manager, we run Ireland’s largest seed-stage venture fund, we are Ireland’s 4th largest residential real estate developer focused on Purpose Built Student Accommodation and Build-to-Rent properties, and we run a diversifying, niche multi-manager fund.
Separately, Elkstone runs a Private Investment Office where we provide unique wealth and investment management to many of Ireland’s, and international, entrepreneurs and HWNIs. Elkstone’s mission is to increase the economic value of the island of Ireland by investing in deserving opportunities and looking after HNW community.
What
Elkstone’s success stems from our one-team culture, a team of teams approach including teams of experienced technical investment professionals bringing stellar deal flow, a dedicated and compassionate relationship management team, enabled and supported by a strong platform team.
Where in the world do you operate?
Elkstone is MiFID-licensed investment house based in Dublin, Ireland regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. We service both local and international private clients through our Private Investment Office.
Regardless of which team an Elkstone team member is part of, we are ultimately in a client relationship business. While being an
investment firm, it would be easy to say that we measure success based on investment performance, but we believe a good wealth manager helps clients achieve their investment goals bound by their risk profile; this will lead to different return levels.
Nothing makes me happier than receiving a warm introduction from an existing client as that speaks volumes beyond what we could say for ourselves. Success to me is increasing the number of warm introductions to potential new clients from current clients; a client referral is the outcome of a unified successful team effort.
Elkstone’s ambitions are to be the go-to Private Investment Office for the HNW community while, on the direct investment side, provide true impact to the economic value of the island of Ireland through our investments into the Irish venture ecosystem and the Irish real estate economy.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
Access. The available investment universe is significant beyond the traditional asset classes, whether that is alternative investment markets that help diversify or alternative investment structures that tend to be return enhancing to a portfolio. Access to these opportunities can be difficult, due to investment infrastructure required, high minimum investment amounts, or sourcing top-quality deal flow and managers.
Fortunately, Elkstone’s Private Investment Office not being tied to any single platform and our alternative investment expertise as both a GP and an LP provides an advantage in many of the access challenges that the wealth management industry tend to face.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
The UK private wealth industry has seen its consolidation trend strengthen in 2022, and 2023 looks to be no different. Banks have been very careful in choosing priority areas for investment. In this respect, technology is now seen as a central element of a bank’s growth strategy, but also as a key differentiator in a highly competitive environment. Leveraging technology to optimise operational efficiency and manage costs is essential to building a robust and healthy bank for years to come.
In addition, a bank’s ability to diversify their digital offering while optimising the use of data is vital to attracting new assets under management. OLYMPIC Banking System is built on an open architecture, ensuring that our platform can exist and work with a wider ecosystem through open APIs. ERI continually invests in improving its solutions to meet the latest regulatory constraints and evolving customer expectations, while also considering customer interaction and service level as fundamental pillars in helping clients achieve their strategic goals. This has certainly positioned ERI as a trusted and long-term technology partner for our customers.
Our clients use a range of measures to quantify success. These include the commercial benefits of bringing solutions to market faster and the operational benefits of reducing risk and improving productivity, as well as servicing their own clients more effectively. Enabling our customers to mitigate risks, control costs and improve customer experience are tangible achievements. Our clients rely on our system and solutions every day for a multitude of key processes, including portfolio management, advisory, client onboarding and investment proposals.
Allowing bankers to spend time on value-added services for their clients by automating time-consuming processes that require manual intervention and lead
to a higher risk of error is the best way to measure the effectiveness of our solution. We are very proud of our awards, but it is even more rewarding to see our clients receiving recognition, especially as a result of our technology and solutions.
Our goal is to continually support the growth of our clients’ businesses while enabling them to meet their own client expectations, especially with the great wealth transfer currently underway which requires innovation and the diversification of products and services now more than ever.
"Our goal is to continually support the growth of our clients’ businesses while enabling them to meet their own client expectations, especially with the great wealth transfer currently underway which requires innovation and the diversification of products and services now more than ever."
Private bankers and wealth managers must meet the needs of new, technology savvy generations with social and environmental concerns, while continuing to understand and satisfy the expectations of their parents. Banks are seeking technology that is readily available, and access to real-time data is an important differentiating factor to deliver personalised services. The flexibility and agility to which banks aspire can be achieved through the cloud and/or SaaS implementation, which ERI has been working on extensively in recent years. Our ambition is to help banks achieve business efficiency through scalable and costeffective cloud models. Better alignment between infrastructure capacity and evolving market demands helps banks to adapt quickly without incurring the costs of operating complex change processes.
The wealth management of the future is both personal and digital. In other words: hybrid. Automated and standardized for the bank, yet perceived as individualized by the client. Supporting client engagement at all touchpoints, effectively conveying the value-add to the client.
Welcome to Finfox. Investment advice redefined.
Please explain what you think makes your firm successful in its chosen field?
We are a Zurich-based wealthtech firm. Our core product is Finfox, a full-service hybrid investment advice solution for banks, advisers and their clients. Thanks to intelligent business logic, a consistent data set and full omni-channel capability, our software makes the advisory process a high-quality, regulatory compliant and seamless experience across all client touchpoints.
With over 35 years of expertise under our belt, we have a deep understanding of complex business requirements as well as broad know-how in designing client-centric solutions and implementing individual configurations.
Borg Chief Executive Officer FinfoxPrivate banks, savings banks and Swiss cantonal banks trust in Finfox. We offer solutions for all segments from wealthy to affluent and retail clients.
How do awards such as this make a difference to your firm and your colleagues?
An award like this is a great motivation for us as a company and as a team. It shows that our smart functionalities, customisation options, sophisticated UX and hybrid advice capabilities come together in an outstanding product that resonates in the market.
Where in the world do you operate – are you mainly a domestic player or international?
To date, most of our clients are located in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. However, with our solutions being MiFID II compliant Finfox is also being used for German, Austrian and other international clients.
What does success look like you – can this be measured in hard numbers, or in qualitative ways, or both?
Our software is 100 per cent Swiss made. At the heart of our success is our fully
Zurich-based development team. Lots of our employees have been with the company for more than 10 years, some even for more than 20 years. Our team’s commitment and expertise, and of course the trust, quality and depth in the relationships with our clients is what makes us thrive.
What do you most like about the wealth management industry, and what do you like the least and would most like to change?
For a long time, wealth management was known for being mainly focused on wealthy clients. Digitalisation has changed much of that and has led to a democratisation of the wealth management industry.
Today it is much more inventive as before and even grants easy access for small investors to the opportunities that the financial markets have to offer.
Despite these noticeable and far-reaching efforts, a significant part of retail and affluent clients is still reluctant to invest.
As a wealthtech provider, our mission is to simplify the wealth advisory processes. Finfox combines a personalised user experience with a highly efficient set-up for the bank.
Can you sum up the philosophy that sums up your firm/you the best?
Our thought leadership in the area of hybrid investment advice, our eagerness to invest in innovative ideas together with our clients as well as our reliability to deliver as promised are key elements of the Finfox philosophy.
"As a wealthtech provider, our mission is to simplify the wealth advisory processes. Finfox combines a personalised user experience with a highly efficient set-up for the bank."
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
Fintex Capital is a unique fintech investment firm focused on private debt. Founded in 2016, we successfully deliver attractive risk adjusted returns and income for a variety of institutional investors and family offices. We focus on specialty finance, a niche within the wide private debt market.
Our flagship UK fund, Fintex Private Debt, has consistently beaten its target return since its inception. Last year, against a backdrop of political and economic turmoil, we returned 10.5 per cent gross for the year.
There are several factors that have contributed to our success, but as the adage goes: you are only as good as the people around you. Our people are central to everything we do, and we are proud to have built a top-quality team with a proven track record and deep credit experience.
Secondly, we are proud of our straight alignment of interest that starts by having our own money in our fund.
Thirdly, our approach to lending: we look to work with a small number of borrowers, supporting their businesses and helping them grow.
When COVID hit for example, we didn’t stop lending. We carried on working with borrowers to ensure they could support their customers while also ensuring their processes and credit underwriting reflected the period of uncertainty, we were all entering. This approach is underpinned by our propriety technology we have built, called LISA.
We are headquartered in the UK and have made total investments of about $385 million across America, Germany and the UK.
Our main ambition is to continue to grow our flagship UK fund, while maintaining its record of double digit returns to investors. We plan to do this by becoming the go-to place for small but complicated deals.
Our sweet spot – deals that are small, highly complex but low in risk – is an area where fewer lenders operate. We have therefore continued to develop our niche as the number one debt fund in the market for small but complicated deals.
Outside the office, we also wish to continue to grow our social impact to benefit the communities we operate in. Anna, our Polish finance manager, has been co-ordinating our efforts in supporting Ukrainian refugees who are arriving in Poland.
Traditionally, the private debt market has lacked transparency - primarily due a lack of publicly available data, which makes it difficult to independently assess a private debt fund’s performance.
This is an issue we are working hard to address and is why we recently developed and released the latest version of FiRE (The Fintex Reporting Experience) – a unique tool that enables investors to see and analyse their portfolio 24/7 in the cloud.
As mentioned before, we have also continued to develop our own in-house risk management tool called LISA. This provides an instant diagnoses of a portfolio’s credit health.
"Our sweet spot – deals that are small, highly complex but low in risk – is an area where fewer lenders operate."• Alternative Investment Manager (Independent) Winner
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
We’re a specialist alternative asset manager and we punch considerably above our weight, in the context of increasing allocations to alternatives by the wider asset management industry, and our core focus on sustainable investing.
"We’re a specialist alternative asset manager and we punch considerably above our weight, in the context of increasing allocations to alternatives by the wider asset management industry, and our core focus on sustainable investing."
Our range of investment products across Real Assets, Public Equity and Private Equity aims to meet investors’ long-term objectives while also contributing positively to society and our environment.
Gresham House manages £3.4 billion of forestry assets in the UK, Europe and Australasia, making us the seventh largest global forestry asset managers by value and the largest in the UK. Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc (GRID) is the largest UK investor in utility-scale battery energy storage systems and is supporting the shift to intermittent renewable energy usage.
In housing, Gresham House manages around 1,000 shared ownership and 3,500 rental homes and plans to deliver an additional 5,000 shared ownership homes by 2026. We are also the second largest VCT manager in the UK.
We are committed to sustainability, but our primary focus is on delivering strong investment returns. Many of the funds we manage across Real Assets and Public and Private equity have performed strongly, delivering returns in line with or ahead of targets.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
The management buyout in 2014 created a culture of empowerment that encourages both individual flair and entrepreneurial thinking, which is a core part of our approach to investment and our team day-to-day. Alignment of our employees with our shareholders and clients is key to this culture, through personal investment.
We have continued our drive to hire the brightest industry talent to support our continued growth and commitment to excellence. In 2022, 62 new staff joined the team, bringing the total number of employees to 223, with investment in key senior hires across management, operations, investment and distribution.
We recognise that our people are our most important asset and were pleased that our employee survey confirmed how much employees understand their importance in contributing to Gresham House’s success, both as individuals and as part of a team.
We will continue to scale the business to meet the needs of investors looking for long-term returns within a sustainable investment framework. We are well-positioned to meet the goals of our ‘GH25’ strategy to be leaders in ESG and sustainable investing with significant market share in specialist investment products, delivering consistently strong returns.
We move into 2023 in a strong position and have continued to raise funds across a number of our asset classes. We have an established and growing international presence in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and our client base continues to grow and diversify as our dynamic approach to growth and ambition anticipate the evolving needs of investors.
Proud winners of ‘Best Marketing or PR campaign’
At Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management our focus is on you, our customer.
Our team of UK-wide highly qualified and regulated wealth managers are there to provide you with a tailored wealth solution combining investment management, sustainability goals, pensions, tax advice, protection, retirement planning, and banking.
Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management is part of the Handelsbanken Group – a business built on customer satisfaction, financial strength, sustainable values, and a strong local presence.
We are there to support you throughout life’s financial journey.
To find out more please contact us at clientsupport.hwam@handelsbanken.co.uk wealthandasset.handelsbanken.co.uk
The value of investments and any income from them can fall and you may get back less than you invested. Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the conduct of investment and protection business, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Handelsbanken plc. Tax advice which does not contain any investment element is not regulated by the FCA. Professional advice should be taken before any course of action is pursued.
Registered Head Office: No.1 Kingsway, London WC2B 6AN. Registered in England No: 4132340
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
At Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management, being part of the Handelsbanken Group, means that we operate in a culture which reflects the timeless values of trust and respect, for customers and colleagues alike.
Within our daily work environment, having this culture means everyone strives to do their best and everyone takes ownership of their work. Wealth and asset management is a subsidiary of the UK bank, which helps us all to have a clear direction and focus on the customer and a quick and nimble approach to getting things done.
With our focus on long-term relationships, it was important to the business to resume meeting our customers face-to-face in 2022, once Covid restrictions were lifted. Communications proposed a nationwide roadshow of events ‘Meet the Managers’ where existing and prospective customers could attend investment presentations and meet with both investment and wealth managers. There is no specialist events team in the business, so this was a massive undertaking for us in the communications team, with only four full-time and one part-time staff to organise the roadshow while continuing to manage our day jobs.
We are privileged to work within a highly professional and collegiate team of wealth and asset management colleagues. They were incredibly supportive of our efforts to plan, co-ordinate and execute a UK-wide investment roadshow, and
helped us whenever possible. We also worked closely with colleagues in the bank branches throughout the UK to create the target invitation list of existing and prospective customers.
This was a well-deserved award for a high achieving and tightknit communications team, which I am proud to be part of.
Explain what benefits your firm and colleagues get from these awards.
We are delighted to receive the Marketing and PR Campaign award as it is recognition of the hard work and dedication of the communications team, and raises the profile of the team internally within Handelsbanken plc. It is also important to us to win a prestigious WealthBriefing award and to be able to share our success with our colleagues and customers.
Feedback from our customers is our key measure of success for Meet the Managers. Overall, feedback was positive, presentations were generally felt to be pitched at the right level and the right length, and the reassurance on markets and the economy during these times was much appreciated.
Our wealth advisers obtained good leads with both existing and prospective customers from the networking sessions. We actively gained new business as a result of the events.
Our customers very much appreciated being able to hear from the investment team in person and to be able to catch up both with them and wealth advisers over refreshments. It was a really worthwhile roadshow.
WINNER: Citi Private Bank
WINNER: Deloitte
WINNER: Earth Capital
WINNER: EFG Private Bank
WINNER: Druces WINNER: Elkstone - Karl Rogers WINNER: ERIWINNER: EY
WINNER: Finfox
WINNER: Gresham House
WINNER: Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management
WINNER: HSBC Global Private Banking
WINNER: Indigita
WINNER: Indosuez Wealth Management
When it comes to maximising potential, perspective is everything
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
At HSBC Private Banking, a key differentiator for us is our global approach, supported by outstanding client teams in the markets where our clients want to do business. In the UK our HNW proposition is exceptional, we believe there are few providers who can offer the breadth of expertise and sophisticated solutions that we are able to bring to our clients.
Our UK team is made up of over 70 colleagues including 28 relationship managers, 13 of which are based in London and 15 who are based across the UK.
Our client-centric model forms the bedrock of our personalised HNW client service. A dedicated HNW relationship manager acts as the client’s lead adviser and main touchpoint, coordinating a bespoke team of specialists. This team typically consists of talented specialists in wealth planning, investment, philanthropy, credit and alternatives.
This client team approach is somewhat unique in the HNW segment and means our clients have access to a level of expertise and opportunities that are rarely available for clients at this level of wealth.
We are part of HSBC’s global wealth and private banking business we have relationship managers based in London, who specialise in the specific needs of UK Resident Non-Domiciled (UKRND) clients. For non-UK Resident clients, we have a distinct offering that is delivered through a multi-lingual team of international bankers who operate alongside our HNW business.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
Our client teams did an incredible job in 2022 against an exceptionally challenging geopolitical backdrop and difficult trading conditions. I couldn’t have been prouder of how they took care of our clients during this turbulent period.
Our clients consistently tell us how much they value the very human relationships they have with us. They appreciate the continuity that we offer to them and their families through the generations.
Our relationship managers consistently score over 90% approval in our client satisfaction surveys.
What are your ambitions for the business?
Our desire to grow and invest in this HNW segment remains a key pillar of the overall global private banking strategy.
Last year the UK HNW business grew at a phenomenal rate – we onboarded over 200 new family relationships and grew revenue by 40%, capitalising on our ambition to be the private bank of choice for entrepreneurs and business owners.
We are investing heavily in our banking services and developing scalable, innovative investment solutions for HNW clients. Our ambition is to fully connect our client’s global relationship with HSBC into a single digital experience spanning banking, investments, brokerage, and lending.
We have also very recently taken the decision to lower our entry point from £4m to £1.5m of assets. This means we are able to open up more opportunities for a broader range of clients.
Indigita is a leading Swiss RegTech (Regulatory Technology) company, specialised in cross-border compliance for private banking and credit services, product placement, investment appropriateness and tax suitability.
We provide a range of powerful digital tools such as web-based stand-alone applications, APIs and compliance and cross-border e-Learning solutions, that make it easy for financial institutions and intermediaries to conduct their business in an efficient and compliant manner.
As of today, more than 2000 financial professionals rely on the cross-border and compliance guidance provided by Indigita’s platforms and more than 4000 financial professionals have been trained and certified with Indigita’s e-Learning courses.
Achille Deodato CEO Indigita SAOne of Indigita’s solutions, called inApp, is a secure, cloud-based web application hosted in Switzerland, which allows our clients to instantly get straight answers on regulatory questions, considering client model, location and cross-border situation for over 190 jurisdictions.
Indigita’s online training courses are developed to ensure compliance with the current market training obligations. The e-Learning courses are available at anytime, anywhere, auditable, interactive, and continuously kept up to date.
Initially Indigita had the challenge of identifying and addressing the needs of financial institutions to provide the most powerful and intuitive cross-border compliance tools in the market.
As Indigita’s solutions started to take shape, our team of developers tackled the challenge of enhancing these tools by integrating leading data providers and delivering the solutions to our clients in a simple form. One of Indigita’s most recent achievements has been the completion
of its Information Security Management System (ISMS) as per ISO 27001 standards.
What are your ambitions for the business?
Indigita plans to further expand the capabilities of its inApp solution to incorporate ESG ratings for financial products and to flag products that are subject to sanctions.
In terms of our e-Learning solutions, we plan on continuing expanding our portfolio of online trainings in the fields of the new Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, Operational Risks, and Digital Onboarding of Clients, among others.
This will allow financial institutions to comply with the requirements from banking supervisors, and the applicable laws and regulations.
Where in the world do you operate?
Indigita holds a leading position in the Swiss RegTech market but is also expanding into neighbouring EU-countries. We are also looking into penetrating new geographical markets, such as the UK and the APAC region.
What are the benefits your firm gets from the WealthBriefing European Awards 2023?
These awards validate Indigita’s leading position as a trusted regulatory technology provider in the European region. They confirm to our existing and potential clients that we are a successful, reliable, and financially sustainable business with a vast potential for growth.
The awards also recognise the extraordinary effort that our talented team of professionals have put into creating and constantly expanding our digital solutions. This makes Indigita an attractive place for professionals to apply their talent and grow.
Shaped by more than 145 years of experience supporting families and entrepreneurs around the world, Indosuez Wealth Management offers a tailor-made approach that allows our clients to build, manage, protect and pass on their wealth according to their goals and ambitions. In coordination with the Crédit Agricole group, our nearly 3,000 employees are committed to addressing environmental, social, and governance issues to pursue consistent progress and ceaseless value creation. ca-indosuez.com
• Wealth Management BusinessThe Principality of Monaco
• Structured Product Provider
• Women in Wealth Management (Company)
• Innovative Client Solution
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your teams play?
Our success has come from our relentless commitment to our clients, who are at the centre of every decision we make. Whenever we consider a new offer, technology or strategy, we always ensure that it will firstly benefit our clients. For instance, in response to rising client demand for digital access and autonomy, last year Indosuez launched a digital platform to enable clients with advisory mandates to access the bank’s investment universe independently. From their e-banking space, these clients can access Indosuez’s top investment themes, including a focus on the range of responsible products, its experts’ convictions and recommendations, market data and detailed product sheets, including ESG ratings.More than a simple – though rich – source of information, using this new digital platform allows clients to establish their own list of "favourite" stocks before discussing with their Indosuez advisor. This platform illustrates the bank’s belief that digital technology needs to be enhanced by people.
What are your achievements and ambitions in terms of responsible finance?
Responsible finance is in Indosuez’s DNA. As part of the development of our range of solidarity products and commitment to the sustainable development goals focused on water and the oceans, in 2022 Indosuez completed its Indosuez Blue Cycle campaign. This involved structured financial products based on green notes and indexation to the performance of an index aiming to invest
Jacques Prost CEO Indosuez Wealth Managementin companies using water efficient processes, water recycling or alternative water sources. These products, structured by Crédit Agricole CIB, also included a solidarity component in the form of a donation to three charities: the Oceanographic Institute in Monaco in support of its Mission Polaire programme and its actions to preserve the oceans and marine ecosystems; Plastic Odyssey and its three-year maritime expedition around the world to fight plastic pollution; and Fondation de la Mer, which works to protect endangered species. Indosuez's commitment to water and the oceans was initiated by the Indosuez’s entity in Monaco through its partnership with the Oceanographic Institute. As witnessed by our win in the best private bank – Monaco category, we have been very successful in the principality.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
Despite the positive steps made in the past few years, the wealth management industry still has a lot to do to improve gender diversity. One of our key convictions at Indosuez is that diversity is a true driver of collective intelligence and innovation, and a recognised and unquestionable source of long-term performance. At Indosuez, gender diversity is at the forefront of our thinking across the board, and we have implemented many different programmes to develop more female leaders in the Wealth Management space. As well as gender diversity programmes, an internal equal opportunities charter marks our commitment to respect in all its activities and at any time gender diversity and professional equality between men and women.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success.
InvestCloud’s CRM/CLM was created to help wealth management firms create better relationships with their clients. A study by Dun & Bradstreet found that a startling 91% of companies have incomplete, outdated and inaccurate data about their clients. This is not how great relationships are made or maintained. Inaccurate client information breaks trust between advisors and clients and leads to less-than-optimal recommendations and guidance on client goals. With an emphasis on thorough and continual data capture via gaming and behavioral science engagement strategies, InvestCloud’s CRM and CLM apps correct this problem, harnessing the power of robustly mapped Client Financial DNA™ (Client DNA™).
InvestCloud breaks down the complexity of existing CRM systems and workflows, replacing them with simple, transparent and organised data for true advisor efficiency. This is ideal for wealth management firms who want to give time back to their advisors.
InvestCloud does this through a design-led approach, leveraging behavioural science – gaming theory, decision theory and data science. InvestCloud developed a single model of the financial industry for all clients implemented in a Digital Warehouse, to ensure a single version of the integrated truth. InvestCloud created a technology called iProgram to enable programs to write programs – an AI-powered code-generator enabling one business analyst or designer to do the work of 50 programmers. InvestCloud deploys these solutions through over 300 apps, all offered on a massively secure and scalable cloud platform.
What challenges have you had to surmount to get to this point?
As with any CRM system, the challenge of capturing and populating accurate information is paramount. How do you capture and populate critical information? InvestCloud leverages ‘YouEnter, WeEnter’ capabilities in populating our data model. This allows clients or advisors to enter key information – whether digitally, or face to face – on their own schedule and on whatever device they choose thanks to our mobility apps.
InvestCloud’s CRM/CLM apps break down complexity, creating simplicity, transparency and organised data in the user’s experience. The data of Client DNA™ stored within our data model provides crucial insights to drive advisors to become proactive to the client, amplifying human interaction. This includes taking the Client DNA™, whether its household details, financial goals, life events or last interaction the advisor had and joining the dots with other strands of DNA such as market news and alerts that are linked together in the InvestCloud Digital Warehouse.
Where in the world do you operate?
Today, the InvestCloud platform supports some of the largest financial institutions in the world. InvestCloud serves over 400 wealth managers and 150 asset managers across over $6 trillion in assets and over 25 million investor accounts that are managed on the InvestCloud platform every day. InvestCloud’s client deployments cover over 40 countries worldwide. InvestCloud was founded in 2010, and has over 20 offices across the world, including New York, London, Geneva, Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney.
• UK Private Bank - Customer Facing Digital Capabilities (Investments)
As one of the UK’s leading wealth management firms, we are trusted with managing £38.8 billion of our clients’ money. Our flagship, high-quality wealth management service is a powerful combination of two distinct but complementary services – financial planning and investment management. While these services can be accessed individually, they enable us to take a holistic approach to looking after clients. With an investment heritage dating back to 1827, our wealth teams work hard providing extraordinary levels of services to our clients from our 15 offices throughout the UK.
We pride ourselves on being a digital market leader, servicing our clients with a high tech, high touch approach. We cater to our diverse client portfolio by offering tailored digital experiences for private clients and financial advisers to engage with. Our digital platforms are under a continuous cycle of improvements, starting with developments to the UX and UI design of Investec Online, based on insights from user testing and analytics. These enhancements result in an improvement in the overall digital experience for our clients.
We have successfully introduced an array of new initiatives to help us stay ahead in the digital wealth management space always prioritising our clients’ safety and security. At Investec our digital team has an integrated strategy with clear transformational goals, which take into account business and client objectives, to achieve a truly outstanding digital experience. We understand the importance of driving digital adoption and have adapted to meet changing customer expectations.
From whom and what do you get inspiration?
One word. Books. There is a lovely Carl Sagan quote that describes why I find it my greatest source of inspiration: “Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.”
I tend to focus on biographies and autobiographies. I believe we can learn so much from each other, and the convergence of lessons from different people in different industries often give us the best ideas.
To digitalise our DNA. We are an organisation born in an analogue era and we have had a progressive shift towards becoming more digital at our core. We believe this is fundamental to remain competitive in a digital era. Technology should be deployed to help save us time. If we leverage the use of technology, our colleagues can spend more time engaging with our clients, and our clients will have more time to generate ideas for their businesses. Colleagues and clients with more time can collaborate and combine their thinking and ideas to work together effectively and successfully.
InvestSuite is a global B2B InvestTech company that offers a suite of white-label and API-based investment solutions to help financial institutions accelerate their digital wealth transformation journeys and create the most engaging investing experience for their customers. InvestSuite was founded in 2018 and has its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. We have operations in over eight countries and have 75+ employees with over 20 nationalities. We have partnered with 25 institutions across 15 countries with roughly 40 contracts across our suite.
The success of our company begins with our people - a unique mix of left and right-brain individuals combining technical excellence with world-class creative talent. Setting us apart in the industry is our comprehensive suite of cutting-edge solutions for easy investing. With our different solutions - Self Investor, Robo Advisor, Portfolio Optimizer, StoryTeller and Insight APIs - , we cover the entire investing spectrum from ‘do it yourself,’ ‘do it together,’ and ‘do it for you.’ This approach has provided significant value to our B2B clients.
We are present in Europe, the Middle East and are taking our first steps in North America and Africa. It is our goal to continue to grow globally.
Driven by our goal to help democratise wealth management, we constantly pursue a philosophy of innovation, transparency, and growth. If there is one company that inspires us, it is Pixar.
The combination of mind-blowing technology and amazing creativity to engage and delight all generations has always been a source of inspiration. InvestSuite is the place where bankers, creative designers, imagineers, computer & behavioural scientists and mathematicians meet.
With our white-label solutions, we enable financial institutions to democratise investing, making it accessible to every person in the world in a responsible way through their own trusted brand. Our InvestTech solutions bring much-needed financial clarity, help improve financial literacy for the end customer, and drive commercial success for our clients. We want to help our B2B clients win by providing solutions that will retain their customers, activate their balance sheets, and increase assets under management.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
One opportunity for improvement in wealth management is client communication and interaction. Democratising wealth goes above and beyond providing affordability and access, it is also about engagement, education and building investor confidence. To do that, we believe in communicating in a way customers understand, using storytelling, hyper-personalisation and human-centric techniques.
Using these techniques, institutions can communicate in a way customers desire to increase engagement, build trust and increase loyalty with their brand. The result is a more sustainable wealth management industry, with increased transparency, increased understandability and ultimately smarter investors.
Another service we provide is the Luxury Asset Practice, which brings together all of JTC’s luxury asset expertise from across the group, ensuring that we are not only able to deliver the most relevant and up-to-date ownership options, but also provide wider consultancy advice to support clients purchasing complex assets such as yachts and aircraft.
Where in the world do you operate?
What has led to your firm’s success, and what role did your colleagues play?
JTC Private Office is more than just an administration service provider. We take a holistic approach when working with our clients, providing them with support for managing all aspects of their fiscal and professional affairs.
This role of ‘fiscal concierge’ is valued by our clients as they tend to be ‘time-poor’ with complex needs. We are able to take some of the administrative tasks off their desks, freeing them up to focus on the passions which generated their wealth in the first place.
We are also highly innovative as an organisation. For example, we offer operational due diligence on investment managers, funds, single stocks, venture capital and crypto through perFORM – a specialist company that we acquired in 2021.
With the continuing goal of increasing the level of governance applied to the lives of our wealthy clients, we have developed a five-step process for creating ‘family protocols’, which create a framework and governance structure for owning and managing family wealth. A family’s protocol becomes a reference point of family values and vision for future generations, as well as for the network of advisers supporting them, leading to increased family governance.
Our Private Office team is located in Geneva, Luxembourg, London, Miami, New York and Jersey, and we draw upon JTC’s specialist private client structuring services in a further 15 jurisdictions. We also work with an incredibly broad and varied network of third party business professionals across the globe.
With this international network, we can create the best solutions for our clients, who are located around the world, often with extremely complex requirements, rather than focusing on jurisdiction-specific structuring.
JTC Private Office and the broader Private Client Services team are seeing significant growth in the USA. Last year JTC completed the milestone acquisition of New York Private Trust Company in Delaware, making JTC the first international financial institution to attain a Delaware State Charter since 2006. This acquisition has created enormous growth opportunity to continue to gain market share in the USA, while rolling out our global service model to US-based clients.
Explain what benefits your firm and colleagues get from these awards.
It is a privilege to have won this award and to be recognised in this way. The WealthBriefing award helps us showcase our broad knowledge and expertise and to highlight our innovative approach to client service delivery. Third party endorsements such as this also increase our brand awareness, differentiate us from competitors and strengthen position in the market.
Where in the world do you operate –are you mainly a domestic player or international?
Julius Baer International Limited is the UK-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Julius Baer Group (which is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland), providing wealth management services, primarily, discretionary management, wealth planning and investment advisory to private clients.
Our clients have access to wealth planning, with advice at key life stages. We develop long-term strategies and offer integrated coordination in an increasingly challenging and complex regulatory environment, to navigate the intricacies of multi-generational wealth planning issues, including trust and estate planning and the complex parameters that accompany.
Our wealth planning teams have a wide-ranging proposition for HNW and UHNW clients. In addition, our UK-based team are part of a wider global wealth planning team of 100 dedicated subject matter experts.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
While our investment management and advisory teams deliver market-leading results, we also take a holistic view of our client relationships and ensure these are underpinned with expert wealth planning.
Our wealth planning expertise is more important than ever, with many families taking time post-pandemic to think about their priorities. With more than 250 investment specialists and an open integrated platform leveraging more than 650 external providers, we use a team approach to provide personalised support and long-term solutions for families.
We are advice rather than product led and are agnostic around which structures, if any, are deployed as part of the client’s overall wealth planning strategy.
We are collaborative, sharing the knowledge we have amongst each other to further improve our ability to serve our clients and work closely with the investment management team to provide personalised support.
Our client relationships are long term and often intergenerational. We participate in Julius Baer’s “Young Partners” programme, a prestigious educational platform for the children of clients.
How and in what ways do you measure success?
As a team, our focus is always on providing the best possible service and outcomes for clients. We combine our deep experience with a collaborative mindset to share knowledge in the best interests of our clients.
We believe our competitive edge has also come from providing far-reaching and wide-ranging propositions for both HNW and UHNW clients. As Julius Baer’s minimum investment threshold is above the market average, we tend to be involved in cases that are more time intensive and complex in nature.
Over the last few years in particular, we have spent considerable time and energy developing our UHNW proposition with a particular focus on our family office service offering. Our credibility stems from successfully accompanying generations of families for more than 130 years. This places emphasis on five key building blocks for families with complex needs, namely Family Roadmap, Family Governance, Family Purpose, Family Experts and Family Network.
Most importantly, however, we enjoy what we do and measure success through seeing the difference we can make to our clients.
Jamie Bank Head of Wealth Planning Advisory UK Julius Baer International Ltd• Wealth Planning
"As a team, our focus is always on providing the best possible service and outcomes for clients."
"I’m proud of our team and I’m thrilled that at Lincoln we are fairly evenly split between men and women."
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
Ross Elder, Fred Hervey and I founded Lincoln Private Investment Office 9 years ago with one aim: to make wealth management work for our clients. We wanted to create a genuinely independent wealth management firm which provided a personal service on an individual basis to our clients.
As Chief Operating Officer, every decision I make is first and foremost for the benefit of our current clients. We strive for continuous improvement particularly in technology to bypass inefficiencies and to enhance our clients’ experience. My aim has consistently been to build process and technology to allow advisers to concentrate on their day jobs, looking after their clients to an exceptional standard. If we continue to do this, together with providing excellent investment performance, then we will deliver our goals to our clients and Lincoln will continue its ambitions to be the best
Having created and developed our own CRM system right at the start of the business, we have since made developments and increased automation enabling us to improve control, decrease risk and to give the team more time to focus on looking after their clients. We built our own Lincoln Portal for clients in 2022 and continue to develop it allowing clients to access their reports and information in a secure manner.
In my role, I am also responsible for compliance which has been both challenging and fascinating given the regulatory changes
that have been introduced since we launched the firm, most recently with consumer duty.
What are your ambitions for the business?
My aim is for the business to have the best operational platform and processes in the industry and for our clients to know that their information is secure, yet they are able to transact efficiently with the team in a personalised way.
The measurement of success for me personally, is to be working with the best people and having a shared goal of wanting to build the best private investment office at the same time as raising my two young children. I try make the most of both sides of my life, as a mother and COO, and I am never happier than when I’m busy with lots of things on the go at the same time.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
At Lincoln, the culture of the business is really important. The culture is built on the central theme of putting our clients at the heart of everything we do. I’m proud of our team and I’m thrilled that at Lincoln we are fairly evenly split between men and women.
I’m excited about being able to help develop all of the team and give them the opportunities to move through to more senior positions as the business grows.
We’re living through a perfect storm of uncertainty: Climate. Geopolitics. Inflation. Recession. But it’s for times like these we exist. With over 225 years of experience, we know there is only one way through this storm: forward. For an unstoppable sustainability transition is already well underway, revolutionising Energy, Food, and Materials systems. Transforming our entire economic model far more fundamentally than many imagine. With forward-minded investment solutions our role is to calmly guide our clients.
Towards a future that has already begun. Find out more at LombardOdier.com
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
Lombard Odier is an innovative bank of choice for private clients seeking a tailored, sustainable approach to wealth management. Our continued success stems from our capacity to build strong, long-lasting client partnerships based on trust and care, and underpinned by our cutting-edge technology.
Entirely owned by our partners, we are one of the world’s best-capitalised banking groups, with a 30% CET1 ratio and an AA- Fitch rating, offering strength and stability in a rapidly changing world. That stability, combined with an unwavering focus on delivering service excellence, has helped drive strong UK performance and asset growth in a very challenging year.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
In 2019, we united our UK teams in Geneva, London, Zurich and Nassau to serve our Global UK clients - UK domestic and UK resident-non-domiciled clients, and trusts - in a flexible way across multiple jurisdictions and generations. This decision to bring together our onshore and offshore teams is a different approach from many of our competitors, and we believe our clients reap the benefits.
We have a clear strategy and proposition. We combine the best of universal banks and multi-family offices (MFO). Robust 2022 performance and asset growth in the UK is testament to the strength, commitment and resilience of our UK team.
Despite significant headwinds, our private bankers, wealth planners and investment specialists were able to deliver a highly personalised and differentiated experience for our clients.
From whom and what do you get inspiration?
At Lombard Odier, we are constantly striving to offer our clients improved services and a state-of-the-art digital experience. We were therefore delighted to win the award for ‘Client Initiative, UK’, which recognises our new UK resident non-domiciled (RND) service, launched in April last year.
Designed by our in-house tax and legal experts in close collaboration with our technology team, it’s the first automated, dedicated RND wealth management service in the UK. It leverages our proprietary, cutting-edge wealth technology in highly innovative ways, allowing us to create bespoke, tax-efficient solutions that optimise our clients’ wealth across borders.
Our objective has always been to focus on serving clients while defending our balance sheet strength in all market environments. In recent years, our UK business has succeeded in significantly increasing client assets. We plan to sustain that growth trajectory organically by recruiting client-centric bankers that embody the firm’s values and maintaining our focus on delivering core banking and investment solutions.
In addition, sustainability has been a key part of Lombard Odier for over 220 years and remains at the heart of both our investment approach and our corporate strategy. We will continue to evolve our offering of high-conviction sustainability strategies to ensure that our clients gain exposures to the best opportunities emerging from the transition to a net-zero economy.
Agriculture – which now claims 50% of all habitable land on earth – must return 20% of land to nature if we are to build a sustainable food future.
By investing in modern farming solutions, like regenerative agriculture, there is a path forward to a new food system.
One that can nourish a growing population whilst restoring the biodiversity of the soil that supports it. Find out more about our New Food Systems Strategy at LombardOdier.com
Where in the world do you operate?
Lombard Odier has booking centres in Switzerland, Europe and Asia, and our offering focuses on private banking and wealth management in Switzerland and internationally. Our success in building our IT platform across the Lombard Odier Group private banking, wealth management and asset management entities worldwide has allowed us to develop an Application Service Provider (ASP) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) service offering for third-party institutions for more than 20 years.
Based in Geneva and Luxembourg, LO Operations consists of 250 employees with a focus on diversity and experience. The team is well placed to support the complex demands of our private banking and BPO clients.
With part of our operations office in Luxembourg, we are better able to support our European business and have colleagues who can discuss with Bankers and Clients in five languages (French, English, Flemish, German and Spanish) .
Please explain why your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
The key to our success is 100% a result of the quality of our people. Whilst we are supported by high-quality technology solutions developed in-house at Lombard Odier, our employees really make the difference in providing excellent service to our clients.
At Lombard Odier I have the privilege of managing a great team of operations experts with an average of 13 years’ tenure within the bank. This allows us to pass on the knowledge and experience to the next generation of operations employees, to ensure we can continue providing excellent service to our clients long into the future.
Explain what benefits your firm and colleagues get from these awards.
Being recognised by our peers in the banking industry as being among the best private banking operations teams in Europe is incredibly important to Lombard Odier. Not only does it demonstrate to us that, as a bank, we are on the right track, but it also allows us to celebrate the hard work and quality of our employees. Further, it underlines the importance of operations activities and provides an important morale boost to our teams.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
Personally, I believe there is a lot of work to do in the funds industry to modernise, streamline and automate some of the basic operational processes involved when buying, selling, transferring and pricing funds. There are many manual processes such as subscription documents and stock transfer forms that must be completed, physically signed and sometimes even sealed or notarised before being sent by fax or post to the transfer agents to execute the transaction.
The fund industry is more than twenty years behind other asset classes. Some innovative players in the fund space are exploring interesting opportunities using blockchain technology and smart contracts, however, the reality is that paper is king and until there is a joined-up approach in the industry it will remain so for some time.
"Being recognised by our peers in the banking industry as being among the best private banking operations teams in Europe is incredibly important to Lombard Odier."• Private Bank - Operations Team Winner
Masttro is a wealth tech platform that enables a 100 per cent view of wealth. The platform provides a single source of accurate, full-picture data to give wealth owners ultimate control, transparency, and peace of mind to make informed, data-driven financial decisions in real-time.
Masttro offers a total wealth overview covering all illiquid and liquid investments to liabilities and passion assets. It comes with a comprehensive suite of features including data aggregation, analysis, and reporting - all protected by best-in-class cybersecurity architecture and data security protocols.
Facts and figures:
- Founded in 2010;
- 100+ employees; and
- Four offices, in Monterrey (Mexico), Mexico City (Mexico), New York City (US) and Zurich (Switzerland).
What are the qualities that have distinguished you this year and why?
In a rapidly changing digital landscape, we understand that our clients need to be confident that their financial information is safe and secure.
That's why we have heavily invested this year in raising our cybersecurity infrastructure and have implemented new rigorous data protection protocols to ensure that our clients' information is always protected.
We live in turbulent times – how is your business going to stay ahead?
At Masttro, we recognise that uncertainty is a fact of life, and that's why we are planning by keeping a global focus. We understand that wealth for ultra-high net worth families is
complex, covering many asset types and located in many regions. By continuing to focus on the global element, we can help our clients keep the big picture in mind and not get lost in regional intricacies.
To further enhance the user experience and reduce manual workload, we are also leveraging new developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning. By automating tasks around data entry and validation, we can help streamline client operations and reduce the risk of human error.
At Masttro, our internal team is a constant source of inspiration for us. Composed of private wealth experts from all corners of the wealth management space, our team members bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.
With backgrounds in private banking, family offices, and large institutions, they have a deep understanding of the complexities involved in managing the wealth of ultra-high net worth families, as well as the intricacies of delivering data in the right way.
We are also a team-first organisation at Masttro. Everything we do is made possible by our truly global team, which spans across Monterrey, Mexico City, Zurich, and New York City.
How do you intend to use this award and what do you hope it will do in aiding your fortunes?
We are honored to have received awards this year from WealthBriefing, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team at Masttro.
We intend to use these awards as a reminder of how far we've come in the past year, particularly with our advancements in cybersecurity and new features launched.
Multrees Investor Services provides a comprehensive and independent custody and consolidated reporting service for wealth managers and private investment offices.
Our single-minded and un-conflicted focus is on meeting our clients’ needs and supporting them with responsive and efficient investment processing, branded customer reporting and integrated industry-leading technology solutions.
This enables our clients to focus on their core requirements of growing their business, building customer relationships and meeting regulatory obligations.
We are committed to providing the quality of service and expertise that you expect from a partner of choice. This is our focus, and we don’t take our eyes off the goal.
What challenges have you had to surmount to get to this point?
2022 was a challenging year across the industry as post pandemic job vacancies created resource challenges for many businesses, including Multrees. Towards the end of the year, we started to see some normalisation in the recruitment market.
However, like many of our peers we ended 2022 with a high number of talented new colleagues, with our total staff numbers now approaching 130 Multreesers!
Last year also saw us open a new office in Glasgow which has helped us access a wider talent pool. Across our three offices, in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, we were very glad to see many more faces in-person on a more regular basis, helping us to refocus on preserving and enhancing client service, while also maintaining the flexibility of agile working.
Despite the challenges 2022 threw at us we were also glad to welcome two new client firms, who along with some amazing growth from our existing clients has seen assets administered by Multrees grow to over £18.5 billion ($22.9b) and more than 10,000 underlying accounts.
Explain what benefits your firm and colleagues get from these awards.
Last year we were incredibly honoured to be selected as winner for two categories at the Tenth Annual WealthBriefing European Awards. We continued that this year by winning the award for ‘Global Custodian to Private Client Businesses’. It shows the quality of service that we pride ourselves on is being recognised within the industry.
In September we added another award to our trophy cabinet, being voted ‘Best Institutional Platform’ at the annual prestigious
Schroders UK Platform Awards. The judges commented “Reliable and flexible, a firm that has continued to grow and develop, bringing capabilities to a market that hasn't seen them in the past”.
Our fourth award win came in November where our excellent People Team, headed by Carole Lamond, collected the award of ‘HR Project of The Year’
I am incredibly proud of our team, whose efforts all these awards recognise.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
Wealth Management is an industry about people – so taking care of our clients requires us to have strong teams. We have dedicated wellbeing initiatives (both mental and physical) as well as trained mental health first aiders and managers.
We have built a robust management development programme and have recently implemented a new performance and engagement system to further equip our managers with the skills they need to develop their teams.
We also partner with CISI, and all our staff are members.
From whom and what do you get inspiration?
Our clients and staff. Internally we have a strong culture of innovation and a cando attitude which we are very proud of. That start-up mentality is still very strong, even ten years on.
As we move towards being an established business, our flat structure and close cross-function working approach, means that we implement innovations in a very relevant way that impacts our clients and staff.
What new developments will 2023 bring to the wealth management community as it addresses global suitability regulations?
The global regulatory pendulum continues to swing toward benefitting consumers. While the key mandate of regulatory agencies is ensuring market integrity and that financial services firms are playing by the rules, regulators are also under immense pressure to do another essential job: protect consumers.
This is a difficult job, but one where intelligent surveillance technology can help. That’s why in 2023, technology will play an increasing role in simplifying compliance for regulators and assisting financial services firms in complying with the many ever-changing suitability regulations that govern their day-to-day dealings with consumers and investors.
If the immediate past is any guidance for the future, fines are expected to increase in 2023. Regulators have given firms plenty of time to get their processes in order, and firms failing to take advantage of the opportunity and comply will likely be seen as a sign of negligence.
Additionally, the global markets have and will likely continue to endure difficult times. During these times, firms set budgets for projects, development, and expansion.
While firms are typically budget conscious when the economy sputters, they should consider the cost of non-compliance. Often it is possible to solve compliance challenges with technology at a much lower cost than the more considerable costs that could otherwise be incurred in the form of reputational damage and fines due to compliance shortcuts.
Another area expected to see significant compliance changes is in the crypto space. Following recent events, like the alleged fraud on the part of market maker FTX, regulators have made it clear that enforcement actions and new regulations are on the horizon. Such an event has catalysed global regulators to start looking at regulations in the digital asset space more seriously.
If history is any indication, existing regulations will continue to adapt and evolve in 2023 and beyond. After Reg B.I. was introduced, the SEC made a number of adjustments over time and that process should continue.
Constant adjustments and revisions are nothing new. Still, they mean that financial services firms need to be ever-vigilant, have a flexible mindset, and consider leveraging knowledgeable technology partners to learn, adapt, and stay ahead of the compliance curve.
NICE Actimize’s ongoing support of wealth advisors and asset managers, through the successful implementation of its holistic surveillance solutions offerings, has proven particularly strong in suitability and the company has successfully demonstrated how it prioritised its investment in the Wealth Management and Suitability sector by applying cloud, artificial intelligence, and advanced behaviorial analytics to solving advisors’ critical needs.
Reflecting continuing commitment to this category around the world, NICE Actimize is seeing widespread global adoption of its innovative surveillance solutions, meeting regulatory obligations while managing client risk, encouraging lifelong customer relationships, and building a robust suitability compliance program.
NICE Actimize
Nykredit Private Banking comprises private bankers, wealth advisers and investment advisors (all certified), assistant private bankers and specialists covering wealth management, tax matters, credit, inheritance, succession planning and cash management, as well as business and home financing in France and Spain.
The Nykredit Group has helped Danish families buy their homes and Danish businesses grow for more than 160 years. As something unique in the Danish banking sector, Nykredit is predominantly owned by an association, Forenet Kredit, which represents our clients.
Our ownership is something deeply inherited in our organisation and culture. For several years we have worked on forming a culture around the feeling of collectiveness, curiosity, and passion. Culture and mindset is top priorities in Nykredit Private Banking because we see our people as the most important asset and thus, our competitive edge.
As a result of the societal turbulence in recent years, people having limited physical interaction and economic and political uncertainty, we have seen a swift change in the needs of clients, as they now more than ever prefer digital interaction and self-service while also seeking reassurance. In our everyday work, the new demands materialise as impatience and little tolerance for repeat interaction.
Trustworthy interactions and digital solutions need to be integrated, which poses an interesting challenge to a relationship-driven business normally manifesting its value in face-to-face interaction.
Towards building competitiveness, we acknowledge that stronger relationships with our client starts from inside-out. Science shows how the level of presence and emotional intelligence correlates with progress in relationship-driven businesses, and we therefore see great potential in leveraging these skills in these uncertain times.
Additionally, by increasing the level of emotional intelligence, we ensure that we
take good care of our colleagues and clients because it involves emotions, mental health and awareness of your impact on other people. Initiatives as a book club for discussing relevant dilemmas and also deepening ones understanding of how to interact emotionally intelligent have been key drivers to develop new ways of innovating and collaborating across the organisation, which both enables our colleagues to get to know each other, our clients and themselves more deeply.
Our private bankers and other advisors are crucial to our business, and therefore we want them to feel comfortable and valued. Thus, we make sure it is a natural part of our everyday to talk and discuss how we feel and how to move forward together.
Our clients define our business, so why not letting the clients be the voice of development? We find our clients to be a great source of inspiration. Throughout the year we have, as a part of our advisory board, conducted several interviews with clients to get qualitative feedback about their experience and use it directly in improving our services and product offerings.
Also, we find great inspiration in other types of businesses that excel in their client experience and have the courage to experiment with their service to continuously test new ways of lifting the bar.
We are very proud to receive the awards for best domestic clients team and talent management as we see these awards as the greatest acknowledgement of our efforts to deliver the best client experience for our clients.
We ambitiously strive to be Denmark’s responsible wealth manager by building long-term value for our clients and business partners and by creating value for Danish society. We find our responsibility commitment to be just as important as profits.
Being acknowledged with these awards tell us that we are doing something that distinguish us from competitors in a good way and we hope to keep lifting the bar to even greater experiences in the years to come.
Lotte Månsson DirectorHow do you increase the profitability of the investment services when the regulatory landscape is shifting, competition increasing, budgets shrinking and clients demand even more sophisticated and innovative services for less?
PFTPro Wealth Management Suite delivers sophisticated, personalized, compliant and ongoing services through each client’s preferred channels, exploiting all possible opportunities for automation.
www.prometeia.com
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
Prometeia’s success factors have always been putting our clients and their needs at the centre of everything we do and focusing relentlessly on innovation to drive the evolution of the wealth management industry.
We continue to prove that we are a technology leader and the partner of choice for financial institutions looking to stay ahead of the innovation curve with cutting-edge solutions.
Sophistication, personalisation and compliance of our state-of-the-art tools and analytics, augmented by ESG, AI, mixed reality and cloud capacity ensure our clients can adapt and thrive in a changing market environment.
Michele Leoncelli Senior Partner PrometeiaCombining our client-centred focus and innovation with our strategic vision for the future allows us to maintain a competitive edge and continues to drive our business for this year and the future.
We’ve been building advanced front office solutions and providing market data and analytics for decades. More than 100 financial institutions take advantage of our modular, MiFID, FinSA and FSA compliant tools, leveraging them to serve their clients better and more efficiently. Today we support the management of more than 2.5 trillion EURO in assets.
Explain what benefits your firm and colleagues get from these awards?
Prometeia’s recognition by WealthBriefing highlights the quality of our service, the continuous efforts and commitments of our team and reinforces our main goal of consistently offering the best service for our clients’ needs.
Risk ManagementIt gives us added confirmation that we are on the right track and strengthens our commitment to constantly create innovative, real added-value solutions to minimise complexity and simplify life for both advisor and client.
Awards like these make a significant difference, demonstrating our hard work, motivating us to continue to strive for excellence and are a testament to our strategic growth plan, our purpose and vision.
Where in the world do you operate – are you mainly a domestic player or international?
Prometeia has always had a global mindset and through the years we have become the long term partner of choice for financial institutions across Europe and the Middle East, serving over 500 clients across 20+ countries with offices in Italy, Zurich, Vienna, London, Istanbul, and Cairo. Our expanding European and global footprint is driven by our growing ambition and the success of our solutions.
True success for us is contributing to our clients’ success, developing relationships of trust and expertise in the shorter term and nursing those relationships in the medium term to generate profitability in the long term.
Our employees are our greatest asset, so customer and employee satisfaction are crucial as we look to build a positive and entrepreneurial work environment, with skilled, smart, and client-focused wealth specialists to ensure the clients’ trust.
Close collaboration with clients and partners leads to the development of innovative solutions and ecosystems that continue to meet and exceed the market standards.
"Awards like these make a significant difference, demonstrating our hard work, motivating us to continue to strive for excellence and are a testament to our strategic growth plan, our purpose and vision."
RBC Wealth Management’s trust business in the Channel Islands is exclusively private client focused. Our expertise lies in complex, multi-jurisdictional, dynastic planning for UHNW clients, delivered by proactive and industry-recognised fiduciaries. We offer an exceptional client experience and are valued for our position as a leading global financial services provider, with a prudent approach to risk management and a strong balance sheet.
Our trust and fiduciary client relationships rely on RBC to source best-in-market solutions across investments, wealth planning, banking, custody and credit.
Our large pipeline of intermediary-referred new business opportunities reflects our standing as the organisation with the experience and expertise to handle complex fiduciary structures. In September 2022, we successfully completed the acquisition of Brewin Dolphin, increasing RBC’s client coverage in Jersey, Ireland and the UK. With RBC’s ability to leverage our global capabilities and banking expertise, clients will have access to an extended range of products and services to meet their needs.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
We are proud of the depth of expertise within our team where our 46 fiduciary decision-makers have an average 22 years’ tenure at RBC.
This year we realigned the structure of our trust business to support our future focused journey and ensure our talent is set up to drive both business and personal success. Last year we promoted 22 colleagues and three new roles were created at director or associate director level within our well-established Technical Trust team – our in-house service that grants our trustees access to legal, tax, governance and fiduciary focused professionals. This is a key differentiator in the industry, where others often externally source this support.
Our business has over 70 STEP or ICSA qualified employees and we received our reaccreditation as a STEP Platinum employer this year. RBC is passionate about investing in our employees, so they feel empowered to reach their full potential.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
Diversity and inclusion is one of the ways we bring RBC's purpose of helping clients thrive and communities prosper to life. We have well established employee resource groups committed to supporting LGBTQ+, women in work and dependent care amongst others. We were also one of the first financial services firms to voluntarily publish a gender pay report in the Channel Islands. This is a clear demonstration of our dedication to the advancement of women into leadership positions.
While positive steps have been taken in this area in financial services and workplaces in general, much more needs to be done. I would like to see continued progress, particularly in ensuring diverse representation in senior management roles by attracting, retaining and enabling the best talent regardless of their gender or background.
Build your crypto exposure safely and easily with our investment products. Enjoy the comfort and security of a fully regulated Swiss Bank.
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Founded in April 2018 and headquartered in Zug, SEBA Bank is a leading crypto bank in Switzerland having a suite of fully regulated banking services. In August 2019, SEBA Bank received a Swiss banking and securities dealer licence, and in September 2021 the CISA licence – the first time a reputed, regulatory authority such as FINMA has granted such licences to a financial services provider with a core capability in digital assets. In February 2022, SEBA Bank secured the Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market and opened an office in Abu Dhabi.
For more information about SEBA Bank, please visit our website
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
The crypto industry has undergone considerable challenges over the past 12 months. Despite these obstacles, SEBA has remained a steadfast leader in the industry. We have done so by consistently servicing the space with the highest standards of security, transparency, and flexibility.
As a FINMA-regulated bank, this differentiates us from other unregulated entities across the world. This is due to Switzerland’s status as a leading global blockchain and banking hub, with a well-established regulatory framework for the technology and a rapidly growing native industry.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
SEBA Bank is a client-centric, full-service partner for best-in-class crypto banking and investment products. We have ensured that we can cater to specific needs with our highly personalised concierge service, accessible 24/7.
SEBA Bank offers unparalleled flexibility in the range of products available, with fast and flexible crypto-backed loans; tailor-made trading and investment products; and fully integrated fiat-crypto bank accounts.
Explain what benefits your firm and colleagues get from these awards.
This is the second year that SEBA Bank has received a WealthBriefing Award and it enhances our reputation and assures our clients that they chose the right banking partner. These awards help build confidence in SEBA’s services, underpinning our position as a beacon of stability in an otherwise turbulent industry.
Above all, winning these awards instils a sense of pride in being a member of the global SEBA team. By creating this sense of accomplishment and recognition within the workforce, we hope to see continued motivation and productivity.
Where in the world do you operate – are you mainly a domestic player or international?
We believe that the key to our success has been our ability to always remain true to our core principles of security and risk management.
We launched in 2018 in the Swiss market and today we support more than 25 markets across the globe, demonstrating our capacity to rapidly scale to meet both private and institutional demand. We’re also exploring expanding our physical presence and various licensing options across other regions such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
"We believe that the key to our success has been our ability to always remain true to our core principles of security and risk management."
Where in the world do you operate –are you mainly a domestic player or international?
SG Kleinwort Hambros has offices in London, Cambridge, Newbury, Leeds, Edinburgh, Guernsey, Jersey and Gibraltar. SG Kleinwort Hambros offers comprehensive wealth management and private banking services including investment management, domestic and international wealth planning, lending, fiduciary and banking services, as well as mid-corporate advisory services on both a direct and intermediated basis.
We serve clients in three distinct segments: Private Banking with tailored private banking solutions for HNWIs; Key Clients which is our dedicated offering for UHNWIs; and B2B which consists of Financial Intermediaries & Independent Financial Advisers “as well as a newly expanded French desk”.
What are your ambitions for the business?
SG Kleinwort Hambros is a leading full-service private bank, providing financial solutions to HNW and UHNW individuals, families and their businesses, as well as charities. Our purpose can be summarised in one sentence: to simplify life's financial challenges. By offering bespoke solutions to our clients and adapting to their ever-changing needs, we have managed generational wealth for over two centuries.
Our ambition is to be a leading responsible bank for client service and expertise. Underneath this leadership of responsibility are the stakeholders we seek to serve as a responsible bank: our clients, colleagues, the community and the climate. We want to help our clients to build sustainable legacies; we want to support our colleagues by promoting diversity and inclusion; we want to make a positive social impact for our community and we want to champion
climate action by reducing our carbon footprint.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
We believe SG Kleinwort Hambros is able to demonstrate excellence in our service and solutions to clients. We feel our commitment to building sustainable legacies for clients has been recognised, along with our focus on being known as a good place to work (as ranked by Best Companies). This, along with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion policies, make us stand out.
Our commitment to client excellence, driven by our team culture helps us achieve a high level of success. We like to consider our business as a start-up with two hundred years of experience. It is that mindset which enables us to be flexible in how we work together across our organisation to directly and indirectly serve our clients.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
We consider our colleagues and our culture to be two of our most important competitive advantages and contributors to our overall success. Supporting our colleagues is not only at the heart of being a leading responsible bank, it is critical to growing SG Kleinwort Hambros.
But it also the culture of excellence we are building and encouraging across our organisation that helps create an environment where our colleagues can be themselves and be successful. We strive to make impactful change through diversity and inclusion and have put in place several programmes to make our organisation more diverse and inclusive to drive retention, performance, and engagement.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
Communications technology continues to evolve. More organisations are embracing these technologies, but need help managing a rapidly growing volume of data and harnessing the value in their archived communications.
Smarsh is the industry leader in helping organisations achieve this – enabling confident and compliant collaboration.
Smarsh enables companies to transform oversight into foresight by surfacing business-critical signals in more than 100 digital communications channels.
Oliver Scott VP EMEA & APAC SmarshRegulated organisations of all sizes rely upon the Smarsh portfolio of cloud-native digital communications capture, retention and oversight solutions to help them identify regulatory and reputational risks within their communications data before those risks become fines or headlines.
Smarsh is a trusted partner to each of our customers throughout the process of digital transformation.
Our unique industry-leading cloud-native solutions enable businesses to continue pushing for innovation, knowing that they are meeting electronic communications compliance requirements.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
Smarsh was founded in 2001 by Stephen Marsh. He recognised that firms needed a better way to archive, store and monitor a growing amount of digital communications data. He founded Smarsh to be a trusted partner that could help businesses embrace this innovation with the right archiving and compliance technology.
Ultimately, we believe the key metric for success lies in the fact that we have over 6,500 satisfied customers around the world that rely upon our technology to help them protect their company’s reputation and adhere to global regulatory compliance standards.
We have nearly tripled our revenues in the past several years. In the last couple of years, we’ve grown our staff from 800 to roughly 1200. Presently, we are managing over 3 billion messages daily.
Where in the world do you operate – are you mainly a domestic player or international?
Smarsh offers capture, archive, discovery and supervision solutions for electronic communications data to organisations around the world – serving 9 out of 10 of the largest banks.
What are your ambitions for the business?
Recently we’ve created a new category called Communications Intelligence, which underscores the importance of digital communications data in today’s hybrid workplace and the need to act quickly on insights from that data.
But we’re not stopping at the creation of this category. Instead, we are blazing the trail, continuously looking for new ways to innovate and best serve our customers.
Through a single solution, we’re offering scalable support for data capture, retention, analysis and actions – in compliance with evolving regulations to safeguard our customers’ reputations and protect them against regulatory fines.
"We are blazing the trail, continuously looking for new ways to innovate and best serve our customers."
Societe Generale Private Banking are category winner for 'Best Bank for Wealth Planning Team', 'Credit Provider' and 'Wealth Management Business' for the Benelux Region.
Wealth planning continues to dominate as one of the key services demanded by clients and remains a priority for them and their families. This continuing and deeply challenging economic and geo-political environment continues to challenge clients to review their existing plans and arrangements and to consider the opportunity to take advantage of improved market and economic conditions as they happen and for business owners, valuations. Our wealth planning expertise is at the very core of our client offer and is targeted to enable us to accompany our clients across their entire wealth journey and to a successful transition of their wealth to future generations.
Our wealth planning teams also continue to adapt to the current economic and societal challenges faced by clients in their daily lives be it from a family or business perspective.
Regarding our Credit expertise, in addition to off-the-shelf solutions for simpler situations and needs, we have developed a sophisticated range of financing solutions to accompany entrepreneurs including start-up owners and more globally UHNWI, where their needs are more complex and require us to innovate and create bespoke credit solutions tailored to their precise requirements. We approach our client’s personal needs whilst taking fully into account their professional, business and family dependencies and requirements. Our credit solutions are built to cater for specific complex situations and to deal with a broad range of underlying assets.
Starting this year, we aligned our investment and financing policies and we added ESG factors as a new assessment criterion to be considered within the SGPB financing policy.
At the heart of Europe, Societe Generale Private Banking Luxembourg is the European hub for SGPB activities. SGPB Luxembourg’s evolution within SGPB Europe’s eco-system enables it to benefit from a wide range of expertise and synergies. Our priority is to serve UHNWI clients with an international profile. Our aim is to accompany them on a holistic basis across the entirety of their wealth journey delivering sophisticated, high value-added services, complementary to those offered by their domestic banks.
Within our organisational matrix, SGPB Luxembourg also benefits from the opportunities and synergies presented by SG Luxembourg. It relies on local expertise in corporate services, fund administration and market activities through a dynamic and innovative trading room. Moreover, SGPB Luxembourg benefits from support offered by Societe Generale Group at large.
We aim to be the architect of our clients’ wealth. We are founded on a holistic approach to wealth management; therefore, we analyse both the personal and business/ professional context of our clients with the aim of delivering the most appropriate wealth solutions to meet even their most complex needs underpinned by a ‘best in class’ approach to the deployment of the most appropriate asset allocation and other services.
Welcome to Advent Genesis – the future of portfolio management. This flexible, scalable, secure solution will:
• Save time with exception management
• Increase efficiency and accuracy in rebalancing
• Cover a broad mix of asset classes and currencies
• Offer the personalisation and customisation your investors demand
What are the main contributions do you think you bring to the wealth management industry?
Our solutions and services enable our clients to build world class organisations. We also pride ourselves on having a highly skilled team that can assist and advise as needed. It is also important to us to have strong representation in all our regions. Understanding the local nuances is key to being successful.
We continue to invest and innovate, to continually improve our clients’ options and empower them to be successful. Our aim is to optimise our clients’ potential and allow them to create thriving businesses. Only by focusing on the client and market needs can we match our own ambitions and standards.
What does success look like to you – can this be measured in hard numbers, or in qualitative ways, or both?
To us, true success is in assisting in our client’s success. Focusing on having strong, flourishing, and happy clients will ensure the other metrics are met. As a long standing and market leading vendor we do have the requisite oversight on financial, and quality metrics, as these are core elements of a healthy business.
How do awards such as this make a difference to your firm and your colleagues?
Recognition from well-established and respected publications are validation of our approach and commitment to the market. It is invaluable to all our key stakeholders, both internal and external, to see our solutions and services acknowledged by highly regarded independent observers.
Winning awards in the region reinforces our capabilities and demonstrates our commitment to continued success for our customers.
Please explain what you think makes your firm successful in its chosen field
SS&C continues to innovate with integrated solutions covering the entire investment lifecycle, enabling wealth managers to maintain higher client-advisor ratios, attract and retain the best talent, and boost their profitability. Our breadth of business lines, and our global scale aligned with our local presence in all of our key markets, allows us to bring multiple benefits to our clients, unmatched by other vendors.
Our dedicated teams are composed of seasoned professionals with a wealth of experience in technology implementations and management, along with front-line knowledge of local regulations, industry practices and evolving market trends.
We continue to grow our client base in all regions.
What position would you like your firm to hold in its sector in five years’ time?
Our aim is to continue to grow and to be one of the leading vendors in the market. We strive to be seen as a respected and valued member of our clients’ communities and to bring expertise, ideas, innovation and world class solutions to serve the market. We also aim to be an employer of choice wherever we have a presence.
"Our aim is to continue to grow and to be one of the leading vendors in the market. We strive to be seen as a respected and valued member of our clients’ communities and to bring expertise, ideas, innovation and world class solutions to serve the market."
Head of Consumer, Private & Business
Banking for Europe
Standard Chartered Private Bank
Winner
• UK Private Bank - International Clients Team
• UK Private Bank - Client Service
Explain why your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
Our success comes from putting our clients at the heart of everything we do. We strive to be flexible and adapt to the everchanging needs of our clients. For example, we introduced a new service called our Enhanced Advisory Service (EAS). This service offers our clients the option to invest with a single, known and agreed fee that covers the custody, transactions and advice costs of running and growing the client’s portfolio.
Standard Chartered Private Bank is a trusted brand and a wealth management partner of choice for HNW and UHNW clients across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. For our Europe business, we have offices in London and Jersey, which is also where our booking centre is located. We cover both private banking (from London) and priority banking (from Jersey).
I’m inspired most by the people whom I meet and speak with and their aspirations and achievements, during mentoring conversations with junior colleagues, with clients or business colleagues. It’s these personal interactions that are most meaningful to me.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
This is the third year we’ve won 'Best UK Private Bank for International Clients Team' and first time for 'Best UK Private Bank for Client Service', and it is down to our employees’ genuine commitment and hard work.
Although a client’s day-to-day interaction is mainly with their relationship manager or client service manager, there are specialist professionals behind the scenes ensuring we have the right products on the shelf, accessible in-house research to help make investment decisions, specialist investment, credit and wealth structuring advice and support colleagues for a seamless execution.
Where in the world do you operate?
With a 160-year heritage of excellence and expertise, we connect clients across 59 different countries through our global footprint.
Our strategy is to be the trusted wealth management partner of choice for HNW and UHNW clients across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We are focused on doubling the size of our business over the next three years by pivoting the bank towards UHNW clients and global families establishing a UK footprint.
The UK remains an attractive destination for UHNW clients seeking a safe and well governed jurisdiction. Secondly, we will grow the Asia corridor, capitalising on emerging markets shifting their wealth ‘West’. Finally, we are continuing to grow our existing markets in Africa and the Middle East.
If there is one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
To be successful over the longer term we need to have the diversity of colleagues which represents the clients we serve. Gender, age, ethnicity, LGBT and socio-economic inclusion are key ingredients of a company culture that thrives. Our industry, as with many others, still has a way to go.
"Our success comes from putting our clients at the heart of everything we do. We strive to be flexible and adapt to the everchanging needs of our clients."
Stephenson Executive Search (SES) is a family-owned executive search company with expertise in the financial service and legal sectors; with a particular focus on wealth management. The company’s aim has always been to be the most reputable search firm in its industry thus attracting the best candidates and clients.
Since SES’s inception 11 years ago, the firm has focused on building long-lasting relationships with clients, choosing to partner with firms that are aligned with the business’s own core values; integrity, trust, respect, passion, innovation and tenacity.
In this way, SES is able to assist not only with recruitment, but as strategic business partners too, providing professional counsel to clients on how best to appoint and retain the highest calibre of people.
to numerous recommendations from clients and candidates alike. Their satisfaction with Stephenson Executive Search’s service has helped build our reputation.
In addition to the firm’s successful placements and growing profits, SES has taken strides in growth and diversity and is proud to be one of the first signatories of the Black Talent Charter, supporting Black representation in the financial services and legal sectors and assisting with progression and promotion opportunities.
SES’s own team has also grown considerably in the past two years with hiring plans set to continue.
“We are on track to double our headcount, continue our successful expansion into risk, fund management and distribution, and do what we do even better. It will be an exciting year.”
Stephenson Executive Search is consistently looking for ways to improve and streamline their service, conducting regular reviews and meetings with market professionals to ensure that the team is always prepared to navigate market changes.
Data search platforms and processes are regularly updated to ensure the team are generating an up to date and wide-ranging talent pool of candidates, enabling clients to create and maintain diverse teams that are representative of the most experienced within the sector.
The majority of Stephenson Executive Search’s clients partner with the firm on an exclusive basis, with SES receiving consecutive assignments as a result of continued success.
The results that the team have achieved have led not only to repeat business, but
“It is our commitment to people, and to ensure that the right people find the right jobs, that has resulted in our team being able to celebrate profitable years. I am proud of the team we have created.”
“People are our business; and we have to make sure that when we put a candidate in front of a client they are on the same page. My team is proud of what we stand for and will always go the extra mile for our clients. We undertake extensive candidate mapping, meet and speak to exceptional people and have achieved remarkable results. Our candidate feedback has also been excellent, even those who did not make shortlists applaud us for an outstanding experience.”
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success.
Our clients are at the heart of everything we do. As a firm we have global scale and that combined with a local presence enables us to deal with the needs of the multi-jurisdictional families we work with.
We have a deep understanding of the cultural, language, legal, tax and regulatory challenges our clients face and our scale allows us to provide our clients with a comprehensive range of services.
What challenges have you had to surmount to get to this point?
Over the last few years, there have been geo-political uncertainty, rising inflation, higher interest rates and recession. We have tackled this by prioritising communication with the families.
The most important factor has been our resilience, and continuing to deliver the services that our clients expect within the current landscape.
What has led to your firm’s success and what role did your colleagues play?
I have a natural affinity with the commercial dynamics of building relationships and working with clients. You can only look after clients properly if you have an efficient working team in place. Finding the right people and maintaining their motivation is essential for success.
Explain what benefits your firm gets from these awards
Winning the award gives us recognition and is a chance for us to celebrate our success. It is a reflection of the entire team and signals to businesses, future employees and our clients themselves what we’re doing well.
How do you measure success?
An international family office with complex affairs over several jurisdictions has challenges to be solved.
Success is about helping a family navigate these complexities and setting them up to succeed. It is less about hard numbers and more about finding solutions.
Whether a family’s wealth is new or long-standing, situations always arise where they benefit from the support of our practical experience.
From whom do you get inspiration?
I am inspired by the talented people I work with, internally as well as the clients.
These are all highly successful individuals and their ideas are always a source of inspiration.
What are your ambitions for the business?
We are constantly building out new parts of the business to better support our clients and we will continue to do so. This will involve using and developing technologies – to keep pace with an ever-changing digital world.
If there were one thing you would like to change about the wealth management industry, what would it be?
Its ability to embrace differences. Being a family-first organisation that operates across many jurisdictions has provided Stonehage Fleming with many benefits, including unique insights into the cultural dynamics of a variety of communities.
Because of this, we have been able to weather changing landscapes with more resilience, and I believe that this is something that the wealth space can actually aspire to embrace.
We believe in transparency throughout the market cycle so investors can compare performance against an index of peer group competitors.
By exploring every opportunity, we ensure that the quality and integrity of our solutions provides the right support, delivers efficiency and an outstanding experience for our clients.
Titan’s vision is to create a client to custody journey by creating a fully vertically integrated international group providing advice, investment management and trade, custody of client assets and settlement services, together with an integrated state-of-the-art IFA and DFM platform.
We are making significant progress towards that goal. Since inception, Titan has grown rapidly through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions. Titan Wealth has a strong national presence, which is steadily growing from our offices in London, the Midlands and the North. We now have over 260 staff, nearly 40 of which are based offshore, out of our Cape Town Office. Titan currently oversees £9.4 billion in AuM.
What has driven the success of your organisation and how would you best describe what it does?
In short, its about talented people working together towards a collective goal.
The longer answer is our differentiated strategy. The discretionary fund management sector is in a state of flux, with considerable fragmentation at the sub-£5bn AUM level and outdated processes as technology and client demand evolve ever more quickly.
Against this backdrop, we have an opportunity to drive reform in the sector by leveraging new technologies and broadening distribution channels to deliver value for intermediaries and institutional clients.
By offering one complete solution, including a best-in-class investment proposition and a market-leading technology platform, Titan seeks to position itself as a full-service parther within the increasingly fragmented DFM sector, delivering an attractive, highly-scalable and low-cost proposition to IFAs and their clients. We have
ambitious growth targets over the next 3-5 years: £50 billion in assets under administration and £40 billion of assets under management.
Tell us more about Titan Asset Management, the investment arm of Titan Wealth?
Titan Asset Management is an award winning DFM with a market-leading track record, as evidenced by our fund range which last year received 4 & 5* FE fundinfo Crown Ratings, placing them in the top quartile and decile respectively within the peer group.
Titan Asset Management manages assets on behalf of clients through a competitively priced and wide-ranging investment proposition comprising a fund and MPS range alongside ESG solutions, that caters to UK and internal clients. We aim to provide institutional quality portfolio management at a retail price.
As the CIO of Titan Asset Management
I’ve made it my goal to surround myself by talented passionate professionals and together we pride ourselves on providing the best solution for our clients. Our investment philosophy is grounded in longterm investing and a pragmatic approach to adapting our exposure over the market cycle based on macroeconomic trends.
Our investment process incorporates three key factors: strong fundamentals, attractive valuations and a quantitative approach that helps identify new investment opportunities whilst enhancing overall risk management. It’s the combination of these three factors that help drive solid risk-adjusted returns over time.
"Our investment process incorporates three key factors: strong fundamentals, attractive valuations and a quantitative approach."John Leiper CIO Titan Asset Management
UBP is one of Switzerland’s leading private banks with over CHF 140 billion AuM at 31 December 2022. It ranks among the best-capitalised banks with a Tier 1 ratio of 26.7% and a long-term deposit rating from Moody’s of Aa2 with a stable outlook. Based in Geneva, UBP spans the globe. Our international reach enables us to combine global expertise with local know-how.
Please explain why you think your firm has been able to achieve a high level of success?
Our success stems from over fifty years of offering investors access to a range of high-conviction strategies. Today, UBP’s Asset Management platform is a testament to that spirit. Our uniqueness lies in our offering of institutional-level services to our wealth management clients, such as access to investment funds, portfolio management services, and an advisory offering that covers hedge funds, investment solutions, foreign exchange, structured products and co-investments in private assets.
Our London branch is the hub of our Asset Management platform. Our Positive Impact Equity, Emerging Market Fixed Income, Private Debt and Alternative Investment Solutions (AIS) teams are based primarily there. Our institutional relationship management distributes those teams’ strategies as well as those managed by our Global Equity, Global Fixed Income, Convertible Bonds and Private Markets teams located in Geneva, Zurich and Paris or by our strategic partners located in the US, Asia and Australia.
Of particular note is our AIS team which is also a winner of this year’s WealthBriefing European Awards. By becoming a “partner of choice for alternatives”, UBP stands apart from its peers with the team’s capability to provide customised mandates for all strategies.
What role did your colleagues play?
First and foremost we are a people’s business and the long-term strength of our relationships with clients very much depends on the quality of our teams.
UBP has a strong entrepreneurial culture and we don’t like to say “No”. Our clients’ requests and needs are analysed to create the best solution. To adapt our tools and processes to a client’s requirements is part of the DNA of UBP and its people.
What position would you like your firm to hold in its sector in five years’ time?
Today, UBP stands among the leaders in the field of wealth management in Switzerland and among the top four non-listed family-owned private banks in the world. Over the coming years we will continue to expand both in our home market and abroad, consistently stepping up our wealth management activities with additional talent and reinforcing our asset management capabilities with new investment solutions.
One of our ambitions is to expand our commitment to the integration of sustainability across all the Bank’s activities. For our impact equity platform we have recently launched a fund aimed at restoring biodiversity; in emerging market debt we allocate capital to countries that demonstrate improvements in governance as well as in social and environmental outcomes; and lastly in private debt we are raising capital to finance social and affordable housing.
Philippe Lespinard Head of AM London Union Bancaire Privée"First and foremost we are a people’s business and the long-term strength of our relationships with clients very much depends on the quality of our teams."
I started my career in the technology sector and later moved to strategic consulting and then wealth management. My corporate career, prior to founding VAR Capital, most recently included senior roles within Barclays Bank as a Director, Key Clients and Family Offices, where I was also a member of the Investment Committee at the UK Private Bank.
I am the co-founder and CEO of VAR Capital, an award winning, multi-family office based in London. Along with my co-founders Ashish and Rajat, we have built VAR into a thriving wealth management business since 2014. With over twenty employees and over a billion under management the future for VAR looks bright. AUM growth continues to increase year on year under my stewardship due to excellent client service and market leading investment returns. It is very important to me to remain close to clients hence I continue to manage key accounts whilst running the company.
I am also a co-founder and a member of the board of director of Monument, a recently launched UK digital challenger bank which is focused on affluent clients. I am also a co-founder of Greenr, a business and personal carbon offsetting app.
three key areas: investment management, debt solutions and family office services. VAR's total independence and multi-award-winning investment performance are valued highly by our clients. The unparalleled and consistent performance provided to our clients by our CIO and his incredible team of portfolio managers and analysts is second to none.
Guided and underpinned by an impressive and independent investment committee their sole focus is providing risk-controlled growth in accordance with our individual investment mandates.
Also, the first-class client service and effective communication that we provide our loyal and growing client base. We do not pay for advertising but grow by investment top-ups and referrals. This ensures we are totally aligned with our clients.
A small shop in comparison to our peer group we make up for this in tenacity shown on behalf of our clients always ensuring that we are one hundred per cent on their side.
What are the skills/personal qualities that led you to a successful career? Please share a piece of advice with our readers.
Entrepreneurial spirit burns fiercely within me. Whether setting up VAR Capital in 2014, founding Monument Bank and developing and launching Greenr Technologies last year I am driven to continually take a lead when it comes to responding with thought leadership and vision to both client service and market trends.
Could you tell our readers what makes your company one of the best in their sector?
VAR Capital is multi-family office and asset manager that provides services to UHNW clients and companies across
I am a first-generation immigrant in the UK. Coming from a middle-class family from a small town in India, I was expected to join the small family run venture. However, I wanted to do something bigger.
"VAR's total independence and multi-award-winning investment performance are valued highly by our clients."• Specialist Investment Manager with AuM Up To £2 Billion Winner
What sets you apart from your peers this year and why?
WIZE by TeamWork, the all-in-one Wealth & Asset Management solution, is one of the fastest growing WealthTech companies in Switzerland dedicated to external asset managers, family offices, private banks, fund managers, pension funds and securities traders.
Part of the TeamWork Group, a 1,000+ employees Swiss company founded in 1999 and fully owned by its top management, we offer a unique 100 per cent web-integrated SaaS secured Cloud or on-premises platform including:
• Portfolio management system with model portfolios and rebalancing/ hedging capabilities; private equity module; risk and performance management (MWR/TWR, contribution/attribution);
• Order management system including FIX Straight Through Processing connectivity with 20+ trading rooms;
• CRM System with KYC and documents lifecycle management;
• Compliance System with AML; MiFID II and LSFin/FIDLEG/FinSA pre-trade checking; risk profiling & monitoring; full audit trail;
• Reporting system with white labelled customised multi-assets consolidated reports;
• Invoicing system including automatic fees calculation and controlling; profitability measurement; and
• Multi-custodian connectivity: 200+ automatic feeds; API connectivity;
• e-banking / Mobile App.
In Geneva, Zurich, Singapore, Luxembourg and Montreal, our team of 45 professionals aims at delivering best in class support and back-office business process outsourcing (BPO) services thanks to our extensive banking operations expertise gained by most of us in different banks and/or family offices.
Trusted by over 100 clients representing 125+ billion AuM and 3,000+ users in 22 different countries, we allow clients
to focus on their business while taking advantage of the platform’s power and scalability for an attractive all-in-one monthly fee.
Our focus: intuitive user experience, rich & performing functionalities, easy and transparent pricing. We therefore think all these elements set us apart from our peers and make us an outstanding 12 years old fintech.
How have your colleagues contributed towards the success of your organisation?
WIZE by TeamWork is first of all a fantastic success story based on people. WIZE is born out of the meeting in 2010 between Philippe Rey-Gorrez – the founder of the TeamWork Group - and Cédric Baiker, an expert in IT banking solutions who had driven the development of the swiss “Newbanking” core banking package from 1996 to 2010.
Realising that the market solutions dedicated to private banking and external asset managers (EAM) were abnormally expensive, not sufficiently functional, and mainly based on legacy technologies, it was clear that in a context of increasing regulation and financial transparency, there would be a growing need for the EAM community to rely on more sophisticated, functional and secure solutions that would enable them to respond efficiently to their business challenges and constraints.
Cedric had spotted a gap and a really growing need for EAMs and Philippe decided to invest in this team of 4 since he believed in them.
The development therefore started in 2010 from a white sheet with the latest available technologies and with absolutely no legacy. After two years and a huge investment in R&D, the first customer was signed in 2012. Since then, the WIZE by TeamWork team continuously grew to a team of 45 today and continued to be ahead of market trends, evolving constantly.
WINNER: Investec
WINNER: Investsuite
WINNER: Jersey Finance
WINNER: JTC Private Office
WINNER: Julius Baer
WINNER: Lombard Odier
WINNER: Multrees
WINNER: NICE Actimize
WINNER: Nykredit Private Banking
WINNER: Ogier
WINNER: Prometeia
WINNER: REYL Intesa Sanpaolo
WINNER: RBC Wealth Management
WINNER: River Peak Wealth
WINNER: SEBA Bank
Private banks and wealth managers face unique KYC demands.
Clients can be higher risk. Due diligence challenges are extensive.
was built from the ground up to meet each of these challenges Our solutions include:
Adverse Media Screening
Source of Wealth Corroboration
Network Mapping & Relationship Risk
List Screening & Entity Resolution
ESG Risk Intelligence
Periodic Refresh
Perpetual KYC (Continuous Monitoring)
Robo Onboarding
Batch Remediation
Lead Generation and Target Profiling
smartKYC is built to provide a 360° view of your client. Intelligent automation providing a platform for private banks and wealth managers to empower their front-of-house teams to be an efficient and effective first-line of KYC defense and focus their compliance teams where it really matters.
www.smartkyc.com
smartKYC proudly sponsors this awards ceremony and we congratulate all the winners!
PRIVATE CLIENT CATEGORIES
Management Consultancy
Private Client Law Firm
Private Client Lawyer
Tax Team
Independent Trust or Fiduciary Team
Planning
Offshore Law Firm
Institutional Trust or Fiduciary Team
Pensions Advisor of the Year
WEALTH MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY CATEGORY (IN-HOUSE)
Innovative Client Solution WINNER
Wealth managers need to strike the appropriate balance between advisor-led and self-directed digital services. We help wealth firms combine the best of both worlds by leveraging sophisticated digital tools and capabilities to support personalized client experiences.
Here at EPAM, we help wealth managers reimagine their business through a digital lens. Our software engineering heritage – combined with our strategic business and innovation consulting, design thinking and physical-digital capabilities – provides tangible value to our customers.
Through our proven services framework, we can help wealth management firms redefine their value propositions, build next-generation digital platforms and futureproof the business to thrive through multiple waves of technology change.
Our unique approach involves:
• Unbiased, collaborative partnership. As technology and product-agnostic partners, we design, engineer and deliver best-in-breed solutions.
• End-to-end integrated transformation. We approach transformation holistically to build digital platforms that innovate and streamline your business and service offering to exceed customer expectations.
• Dedicated wealth management domain expertise. Our teams of financial services and wealth management experts have the experience and know-how to bring your vision to life – or envision the future on your behalf.
• Core engineering DNA and digital credentials. We activate and support your competitive advantage by delivering best-in-class wealth management solutions while minimizing technical risks via scope validation, rapid prototyping and MVP development.
Since 1993, EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE: EPAM) has leveraged its advanced software engineering heritage to become the foremost global digital transformation services provider – leading the industry in digital and physical product development and digital platform engineering services.
Through its innovative strategy; integrated advisory, consulting and design capabilities; and unique ‘Engineering DNA,’ EPAM’s globally deployed hybrid teams help make the future real for clients and communities around the world by powering better enterprise, education and health platforms that connect people, optimize experiences and improve people’s lives.
WEALTH MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY CATEGORIES (VENDORS)
Technology Outsourcing Solution
Innovative WealthTech Solution B2C
Innovative WealthTech Solution B2B
COMMENDED
Technology Outsourcing Solution
Chief Technology Officer
Portfolio Management
Transaction Processing Solution
Change Management Process/Best Implementation of a Technology Solution
Data Provider
Client Communications Compliance
Client Lifecycle Management Solution
Robo-Advisory Solution
Client Reporting
Suitability Product
WEALTH MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY CATEGORIES (VENDORS) - continued...
WINNER
Risk Management
Innovative Use of Artificial Intelligence
WINNER
WINNER
Overall Front Office Solution Provider
COMMENDED
Innovative Client Solution B2C
Onboarding
WINNER
WINNER
CRM System
WINNER
Blockchain-Based Sourcing Solution
EUROPEAN WEALTH MANAGEMENT CATEGORIES
WINNER
Overall European Private Bank
Private Bank - Investment Management Platform
WINNER
WINNER
Private BankClient Service
EUROPEAN WEALTH MANAGEMENT CATEGORIES - continued...
Private BankCustomer Facing Digital Capabilities (Banking)
Private BankCustomer Facing Digital Capabilities (Investments)
Wealth Management Business - Central or Eastern European Region
International Clients Team
Wealth Management Business - The Principality of Monaco
Private Bank - Client Initiative
Private BankOperations Team
Domestic Clients Team
Private Bank - Talent Management
HNW Team
Private Bank - Credit Provider
Private BankWealth Planning Team
Wealth Management Business - Benelux Region
UNITED KINGDOM PRIVATE BANKING CATEGORIES
UK Domestic Clients Team
UK Charity Team
UK Private BankCredit Provider
UK UHNW Team
UK International Wealth Planning Team
UK HNW Team
UK Private BankCustomer Facing Digital Capabilities (Investments)
UK Wealth Planning Team
Global Private Banking
UK Private BankClient Initiative
Overall UK Private Bank
UK Private BankInternational Clients Team
UK Private BankClient Service
UK Private BankInvestment Management Platform
Independent and politically stable since 1204
Leading the way in global finance for 60+ years
Robust and respected regulatory framework
More than 13,500 expert finance professionals
Strong judicial system based on common law principles
Variety of structures and a flexible regime
Home to many national and international firms
Overlaps with both east and west time zones
Jersey Finance is proud to work with key partners to represent and promote Jersey as the clear leader in international finance. We champion the competitive position of Jersey’s finance industry, both locally and internationally, supporting the highest regulatory standards and the most attractive products and services to suit the needs of global investors.
For more information, please contact Robert Moore on:
@jerseyfinance
Specialist Wealth Manager with AuM Up To £2 Billion
Multi-Family Office Between £1-3 Billion AuM
Specialist Wealth Manager with AuM Over £5 Billion
Discretionary Fund Management (DFM) Offering
Private Investment Office
Alternative Investment Manager (Independent)
Specialist Investment Manager with AuM Over £5 Billion
Structured Product Provider
Multi-Family Office Up To £1 Billion AuM
Investment Consultancy
Digital Assets Solution/Fund Manager
Multi-Family Office Over £3 Billion AuM
Fund Manager
Alternative Investment Manager (Bank/Institutional)
Specialist Investment Manager with AuM Up To £2 Billion
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CATEGORIES - continued...
External Asset Management Platform & Offering
SPECIALIST WEALTH MANAGEMENT CATEGORIES
Philanthropy Offering/Initiative Of The Year
Most Promising New Entrant
Corporate Social Responsibility
ESG Marketing or PR Campaign
International Finance Centre
Global Custodian to a Private Client Business
Use of Social Media
WINNER Wealth Management Executive Search Firm (Europe)
Most Innovative Wealth Management Model
LEADERSHIP AND INDIVIDUAL BASED CATEGORIES
WINNER
Diversity in Wealth Management (Company)
Women in Wealth Management (Company)
WINNER
WINNER
Outstanding Contribution to Wealth Management Thought Leadership (Company)
WINNER
Rising Star Under 30
ANDY TAYLOR
Outstanding Contribution to Wealth Management Thought Leadership (Individual)
WINNER
ISABEL GUGGISBERG
Chief Investment Officer
KARL ROGERS
WINNER
Women in Wealth Management (Individual)
BECKY ROBBINS
Leading Individual (Banker)
NICHOLAS RENNIE
WINNER
WINNER
WINNER: SG Kleinwort Hambros
WINNER: Smarsh
WINNER: Societe Generale Private Banking
WINNER: SS&C Advent
WINNER: Stephenson Executive Search
WINNER: Standard Chartered
WINNER: Stonehage Fleming
FEBRUARY 2023
WealthBriefing Swiss Awards
WealthBriefing WealthTech Americas Awards
MARCH 2023
WealthBriefing Swiss EAM Awards
WealthBriefing European Awards
MAY 2023
Family Wealth Report Awards
JUNE 2023
WealthBriefingAsia Greater China Awards
WealthBriefingAsia Awards
JULY 2023
WealthBriefing Wealth For Good Awards
OCTOBER 2023
WealthBriefingAsia EAM Awards
NOVEMBER 2023
WealthBriefing MENA Awards
DECEMBER 2023
WealthBriefing Channel Islands Awards
WINNER: swissQuant Group AG
WINNER: Titan Asset Management
WINNER: Tribe Impact Capital
WINNER: Union Bancaire Privee
WINNER: VAR Capital
WINNER: Wealth Dynamix
WINNER: WIZE by TeamWork