Strategy
Deutsche Bank Aims To Be Top-Five Wealth Player In Global Industry - Report
The European lender vows to enter the ranks of the top-five wealth management firms of the world, a report says.
Deutsche Bank,
which has made leadership changes and restructured to boost
profitability over recent months, aims to be one of the world's
top five wealth managers, according to a memo sent to employees
this week, Reuters reported.
The memo did not elaborate on how Deutsche Bank, Germany’s
largest lender, intends to reach such a goal. The memo was
written by Fabrizio Campelli, global head of wealth management.
Campelli reportedly said the bank's priorities were investing to
minimise risks in a "challenging regulatory and control
environment", investing in a modern and resilient operating model
and building the business around the needs of clients.
The bank has previously set out the target of being a
top-five wealth manager. Scorpio Partnership, the
consultancy, ranked the firm at 12th for its survey on data
for 2014, down from eighth in 2012. UBS is the world’s largest
wealth manager in those rankings for 2014.
In October last year, Deutsche Bank said it will shut operations
in 10 countries and cut 9,000 jobs by 2020. As part of its plan
to cut costs and stabilise its business, the Frankfurt-listed
bank will close onshore operations in Argentina, Chile, Mexico,
Peru, Uruguay, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Malta, and New Zealand,
while moving its trading activities in Brazil to “global and
regional hubs”.
Deutsche has seen a raft of high-level shuffles lately. In June,
John Cryan was appointed to take over from Anshu Jain as co-chief
executive; the other co-CEO is Juergen Fitschen. Most recently,
the bank announced the departure of Michele Faissola, head of
Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, as part of a restructure of
its three-year old asset and wealth management unit.
Cryan has been under pressure to overhaul Deutsche, which has
been hit with significant litigation costs from past financial
scandals. In its results statement for the three months to the
end of September, the bank revealed litigation reserves had
increased by €1 billion to €4.8 billion. It reported a record net
loss of €6 billion for the period, as well as a 7 per cent
year-on-year drop in revenues to €7.3 billion.
As Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, net revenues were €1.2
billion, down 5 per cent versus the third quarter of 2014, while
pre-tax income fell 25 per cent year-on-year to €263 million.
