Societe Generale said today it will extend its private banking offering to all its clients with financial assets of €500,000 ($675,526).

Societe Generale said today it will extend its private banking offering to all its clients with financial assets of €500,000 ($675,526) or more, a move which appears to buck a trend in which some of its peers are focusing more on the ultra high net worth end of the spectrum.

The announcement comes on top of a recent move by Societe Generale Private Banking Hambros, its UK business, to bolster its business (see here). The Paris-listed bank is due to report full-year and fourth-quarter results on 12 February.

Private banking in France had previously been open to those with at least €1.0 million of financial assets.

“This new model, which combines the expertise of the private bank with the proximity of the retail bank, will ensure a personalised service and an offer which is perfectly adapted to the needs of clients in a complex economic environment,” Societe Generale said in a statement today.

Structure
The service is structured at a local level around a private banker, the “privileged contact” with clients, who works out with them the best solutions for the organisation of their wealth and investments; a client advisor, who is in charge of the day-to-day banking relationship in the client’s usual branch and a team of experts, composed of wealth planners and investment advisors, it said. The firm’s private bank serves almost 40,000 French households, accounting for around €50 billion of assets under management.

The new development stems from activities in 2008 between the private bank and its retail bank in France, which led to opening a shared structure of eight regional private banking centres. Almost 200 new private bankers and experts, located in around 100 branches in 80 towns and cities, will join the existing organisation, the statement said.

Societe Generale Private Banking in France continues to be led by Patrick Folléa, who retains his functions as deputy head of Societe Generale Private Banking.

A number of private banks, such as at Citi and Credit Suisse, among others, focus on the UHNW side, seen as offering better margins; Barclays, the UK bank, has recently moved to cut services from its wealth arm for people with £500,000 or less in AuM.

SocGen has been widely rumoured to be looking to sell its Asia private banking business; some reports have said that DBS, the Singapore-headquartered bank, is in advanced talks to buy it, but neither firm has commented when contacted by this publication.