Quintet Private Bank was Highly Commended in the Outstanding Global Private Bank: Europe category at the 31st annual staging of the Private Banker International (PBI) Global Wealth Awards 2021, held virtually on 8 October due to Covid-19. The bank has used new funding to acquire and consolidate its European-based global wealth management (WM) and investment offering, delivering a 16% uptick in revenues last year to EUR513 million (US$594.1m) despite the pandemic.
Quintet Private Bank, headquartered in Luxembourg, operates in 50 European cities. It caters to wealthy individuals and families, as well as a broad range of institutional and professional clients, including family offices, foundations and external asset managers.
Founded in 1949, it rebranded last year as it entered new markets and recruited 350 staff to its 2,000 rollcall, tapping new funding – including the placement of EUR125 million (US$146m) in AT1 notes – in order to pursue growth, and attracting higher fees and commission income to reward its efforts. Total client assets rose to EUR85 billion (US$98.4 bn) as of 31 December 2020, up from EUR81.5 billion at the end of 2019.
Expansion included via the acquisition of Bank am Bellevue in Zurich to form Quintet Switzerland. Staff numbers doubled to 80 by year end, as the newcomer sought to carve out a niche by offering a comprehensive advisory approach and the agility of a relatively small player. This is allied to state-of-the art asset allocation and truly open architecture that allows multi-booking capabilities and true cross-border capabilities.
In October 2020, Quintet opened a branch in Copenhagen: Quintet Danmark, which is focused on meeting the long-term wealth management needs of local individuals and their families. It combines a highly personalized approach with independent advice and open-architecture investment solutions. Similarly, it has doubled staff numbers, to 10 in this case. It supports its activities via alignment with the Nordics Desk in Luxembourg.
It combines a highly personalized approach with independent advice and open-architecture investment solutions.
Consolidating operations and raising brand awareness are among its key aims. In December last year, for instance, Quintet finalized the merger of its EU-based subsidiaries, forming a single business unit known as ‘Quintet Europe’. This reduces organizational complexity and increases efficiency, allowing clients to benefit from shorter lines of communication, more rapid decision-making, and faster service. A one-bank approach is better than a lot of smaller subsidiaries.
A single House View has been implemented whereby Quintet’s chief investment officer (CIO) articulates the firm’s view about how clients should be invested, dependent on their portfolio and risk appetite. The Counterpoint publication and Solutions offer clients specific ideas about how to invest their wealth in a portfolio.
Sustainable investment is a priority too and should be the default choice in the long-term as the world moves towards net carbon zero. Investing in companies that are better prepared for the impact on their business of climate change can improve performance. Those that have built resiliency and manage the associated risks more carefully are likely to offer an improved risk/reward ratio to investors.