LGT Bank Switzerland has created a new team devoted to business with external asset managers in the UK and Middle East.

LGT, the bank of the Princely House of Liechtenstein, is expanding its financial services for financial intermediaries with three new hires in Zurich.

The appointees – Dominic Walther, Christian Meili, and Gabriele Di Cristo – and the firm's entry into the Middle East,  mark the next step of LGT’s EAM expansion. Their hire increases the team dedicated to the international business to a total of eight relationship managers, the bank said in a statement.

LGT plans more hires in this area, according to Rainer Buechel, who leads the new EAM UK and Middle East team based in Zurich.

The move underpins the expansion of its services to EAMs in the United Kingdom and, for the first time, the Middle East, the bank added.

The EAM business – which includes multi-family offices – is facing several major challenges, including increasing regulatory oversight and shifting client needs, the bank added. With rising costs putting pressure on margins for EAMs, many are seeking a partner.

LGT said its international team has won considerable assets since in 2019, expanding its offering from Liechtenstein for international intermediaries.

Hiring Walther, Meili, and Di Cristo – who joined LGT on 1 July – builds on the past three years' experience with UK-based external asset managers, the firm added.

LGT is an international private banking and asset management group that has been fully controlled by the Liechtenstein Princely Family for over 90 years. The firm has managed assets of SFr285.8 billion ($313.7 billion) for wealthy private individuals and institutional clients, with locations in Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East.