Strategy
Vontobel Shutters Onshore Business In Austria, Will Manage Money From Zurich
Switzerland’s Vontobel is to close its onshore private banking business in Austria as it looks instead to serve Austrian clients via its cross-border business based in Zurich.
Switzerland’s Vontobel is to close its onshore private banking business in Austria as it looks instead to serve Austrian clients via its cross-border business based in Zurich.
“Vontobel remains committed to serving its Austrian private clients through its cross-border business, which it will operate from Zurich. The business with clients of asset management will continue to be run by the same team in Vienna,” the bank said in a statement yesterday.
The venerable firm said it is “bundling its resources in its private clients business” and will make more use of its Swiss booking platform.
“In view of their geographical proximity, Austrian clients of private banking will be served by employees in Switzerland in the future,” it said.
At present, the firm’s Vontobel Österreich business, with operations in Salzburg and Vienna, employs 38 people; it was established in 1995. As of 30 August, some €1.0 billion ($1.3 billion) of private client assets were managed via the local booking platform.
A spokesperson at Vontobel told WealthBriefing that most of the staff at the Austria offices will work at the firm until the end of the year, but could not elaborate further.
"The implementation of modern business models is a priority. Our goal is to reduce complexities in private banking and to operate cost-effectively. For this reason, we will not only conduct our business with Austrian private clients but also our Eastern European and Russian businesses exclusively out of Zurich and Geneva in the future," Dr Zeno Staub, chief executive of the Vontobel Group, said in a statement.
"We will, however, continue to operate our local business with institutional clients in Austria and we will serve them from our Vienna office, as before," he said.
The Vontobel Group was first established in Zurich in 1924; as of 30 June, the firm oversees SFr140 billion ($150 billion) of assets and employs around 1,500 staff.
