Societe Generale Private Banking Hambros, the UK arm of the French group’s private banking segment, said it is boosting its business this year including a recruitment drive.

Societe Generale Private Banking Hambros, the UK arm of the French group’s private banking segment, said it is boosting its business this year including a recruitment drive.

The bank said its strategy comes after the appointment of Christophe Billard, group commercial director of SGPB Hambros, in February last year.

This publication is in contact with the bank seeking further details on how the new strategy will evolve, and will update in due course.

SocGen said new private bankers will be added to the team, a wider range of services will be offered and links with the investment banking side of Societe Generale will be increased, it said in a statement today. The UK private banking business’s territory includes The Channel Islands and Gibraltar.

Some 16 new client relationship managers have been hired recently, including eight managers in SGPB Hambros’ regional offices, both onshore and offshore, it said.  

The London-based Russian team is being reorganised into a wider international team focusing on Russian and Commonwealth Independent States clients, and further 12 RMs and five investment and support staff will be recruited this year.

On top of this, the bank said it “has also developed a range of initiatives to improve client experience and staff responsiveness to client demands, which includes a five-year IT plan for front and back offices, upgrades of core business systems, and online risk control tools”.

New strategy
“The new strategy underlines that our clients remain the focus of our attention, ensuring that we continue to develop services and products which reflect their different needs and making sure we respond to their specific requirements. Our successful recruitment drive shows how well regarded our bank is within the UK market,” Eric Barnett, group chief executive of SGPB Hambros, said in the statement.

Elsewhere, SocGen appointed Guldo Zoeller as country head for Germany last week; he took up that role in addition to his existing one of chief country officer for Societe Generale corporate & investment banking in Germany.

The investment in the private bank business in the UK would seem to stand in contrast to the position of the French banking group in Asia, where it is widely speculated that SocGen will sell its Asian private bank, although despite a flurry of stories, the Paris-listed firm has not commented to this or other publications.

In the UK, the wealth management industry has been adapting to the new regulatory environment created by the Retail Distribution Review reforms, which some industry figures have said favour larger firms. To see an interview with SocGen’s private bank in the UK published three years ago, two years ahead of the RDR coming into law, see here.

SocGen is due to issue fourth-quarter and full-year figures on 12 February.