The former head of group strategy will head up the division.

Santander has created a new global wealth management division which will integrate its private banking and asset management businesses, joining the choir of lenders that have altered their business models in a bid to reap revenues from ultra-wealthy clients. 

The new wealth management division will be led by Victor Matarranz, who until now was head of group strategy. The new operation will enable the group to provide better service to Santander’s global private banking customers, the firm said in a statement.

It will be comprised of the new private banking unit, Santander Asset Management’s business, which the bank re-purchased last November, and international private banking. The teams of the private banking and asset management units in countries will, in line with Santander's model, have a dual reporting line to the local country heads and the new division head.

Under the leadership of Matarranz, senior executive vice president and member of the management committee, the new division will create a new model of service for its existing 170,000 clients worldwide and will offer them a new digital platform to manage their financial needs.Today, Santander Private Banking manages more than €160 billion ($187 billion) in customer funds, some of which are managed within the €180 billion of assets under management in Santander Asset Management. The bank targets that the assets will grow by double digits annually to 2020 due to the new division.

For the past three years, Víctor Matarranz has been responsible for leading the corporate unit of group strategy, which will now be led by Enrique Álvarez, who has for the past two years been deputy director of the unit.  Matarranz will report to Santander’s chief executive, José Antonio Álvarez. Enrique Álvarez will report to the group’s executive chairman, Ana Botín.

“Private banking and asset management offer Santander an excellent opportunity for growth," said Santander CEO JA Álvarez. "We have set very ambitious goals for ourselves and I trust we will achieve them. The Santander model is perfectly fit to build a worldwide leader in wealth management based on cooperation and efficiency."