As investors worldwide look to Asia's massive potential to recoup what had been lost in the 2008 financial crisis, private banks are stepping up their game and building more personal relationships with clients. Jimmy Lee, chief executive for Clariden Leu in Asia, talks to WealthBriefingAsia about the Swiss bank's plans for the region and foreseen challenges.

WealthBriefing Asia: Where is Clariden Leu right now in terms of Asian growth and positioning plans? Which countries is the firm focusing on and what are the current strategies in these areas?

Jimmy Lee: Clariden Leu continues to enjoy steady growth in Asia. We have increased our staff strength tenfold in recent years across our offices in Singapore and Hong Kong to more than 150 people in the region today (as at July 2010) - which is a direct reflection of our fast-growing client base of HNW and UHNW individuals.

While our key focus markets are China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, we are well positioned to provide the same private banking services to clients from other countries across the region. No matter where our clients are in Asia, our overall approach is to provide the highest standard of specialised, highly client-relevant Swiss private banking services that only a pure play private bank like us can provide. In addition to bringing the core values of the Swiss private banking tradition of stability, security, continuity, and discretion to Asia, we have established a strong reputation for efficiency, excellence and professionalism in all aspects of our services.

Our clients typically are UHNW clients with net worth of $30 million. We pride ourselves in having relationship managers whose clients see them as their “first call” advisor whom they can trust to have their best interests at heart, and to provide intelligent, insightful advice each and every time. Very often, these relationship managers will be helping to manage 30 percent or more of these clients’ investable assets.

Today, we are very much on track in our efforts to expand our footprint across the region to support our clients in Asia. We have stayed true to our philosophy of delivering tangible value to our clients for more than 250 years, and this has reaped its own rewards.

WBA: How is the company aiming to gain leverage in areas such as Singapore, China or India - whose increasing wealth potentials are getting attention from a lot of wealth management agencies worldwide? What about the likes of Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, etc?

We continue to do well in Singapore, which is home to the fastest growing number of millionaires in the region. According to the Boston Consulting Group, the number of millionaires in globally grew by 14 per cent last year, increasing the number of millionaire households to 11.2 million compared to 9.8 million in 2008. Singapore saw the highest growth in millionaire households, up 35 per cent, and also has the highest concentration of millionaire households at 11.4 per cent. We see this growth trend continuing and we are in a strong position to capitalise on it.

Likewise, China and India continue to generate massive wealth creation activities, and with their huge internal market, we expect to see an increasing number of clients from those markets.

As the current generation of Asians becomes wealthier, there is growing demand for high quality wealth management services, delivered by professionals who know Asia and have access to global expertise to tap opportunities in other regions.

As a pure play private bank, we have only one ball to juggle and can afford to stay focused on delivering premium wealth management solutions that go straight to the heart of meeting our clients’ needs.

Plus we know Asia. We first established a presence in Asia over 25 years ago and today we have strong offices in Singapore and Hong Kong. From these two locations, we provide our growing clientele in the region with full access to our international network of services.

So what do we offer? The best of Swiss private banking right here in the heart of Asia, with a highly experienced team and an established track record for delivering tangible value through intelligent, insightful advice to our UHNW clients across the region.

WBA: In the experience of Clariden Leu (and given recent events), what do clients really need from their wealth managers? How does the company cope with the evolving customer demands and appetites?

Private banking clients are very well-informed these days. We find that they are much more involved in their investment decisions and they want more access to information. They also prefer to spread their assets across a set of financial products that we find are increasingly more diverse. All this means that the role of the relationship managers must also evolve from being just an investment selector to more of a strategic advisor.

The fact that we are a pure play private bank is a significant advantage as they know that we are focused on giving them the independent and strategic financial advice they need to make their investment decisions. And from our offices in Singapore and Hong Kong, our clients can take advantage of our international network of specialists for advice on the investment vehicles and instruments available.

Asian clients – like their counterparts elsewhere in the world – are looking for highly experienced private bankers whom they can trust and work with closely. And that is why at Clariden Leu, we have a stringent recruitment process in place. We hire only the best, most experienced relationship managers with at least 15 years experience and above to manage and deal with the various requirements of our clients.

WBA: What challenges does the company foresee over the next months or year in the wealth management/private banking space? What trends are upcoming; which are about to fade?

Asia is one of the fastest growing markets for private banking with the volume of HNW and UHNW individuals increasing more rapidly than the global average. According to the Merril Lynch/Capgemeni World Wealth Report 2009, by 2013, global HNW individuals' financial wealth is expected to grow to $48.5 trillion, with Asia Pacific expected to overtake North America as the largest region for HNW financial wealth. This presents a huge opportunity for us – but one coupled with increased competition and diversity within the financial landscape in terms of banks, financial advisors, and wealth management providers.

We also see a constant war for top talent in private banking. This is why we have a stringent recruitment process in place and we are focused on hiring only the best, most experienced relationship managers.

Another challenge is cost management. Private banking is a high cost business and the profitability of a bank is a clear reflection of how well it balances its operating costs against its ability to generate new income. Clariden Leu has always had a strict cost management policy and an enviable cost-income ratio, both of which have helped us weather the recent global financial crisis. However, this doesn’t mean we don’t spend – we will continue to invest in putting in place the infrastructure and people we need to grow in Asia.

We see a few upcoming trends in the region today. Asian clients are a very sophisticated group and they prefer to stay very involved in the management of their investments. To service these clients at the level they expect, we are taking a more team-based approach at Clariden Leu to make sure all their needs and requirements are being met. Our approach is a departure from the way that traditional bankers service their clients where relationship managers become almost a personal assistant to the client in even non-banking related services. We believe that UNHW clients demand more professional banking services and that is what will set the top private banks apart in the future.

Jimmy Lee is the CEO for Asia at Clariden Leu. In his capacity, Jimmy oversees the bank’s operations in Singapore and Hong Kong, and is responsible for the implementation of Clariden Leu’s business strategy across the region.