Credit Suisse has announced that the global expansion plan for its flagship private banking arm was still on track, despite the recent turmoil that has engulfed the financial sector. At a presentation to investors, Private Banking chief executive Walter Berchthold said the division was "well-positioned to excel in the current market conditions." He also said that the segment will invest at least SFr300 million in growth annually with particular focus on the international platform. It aims to add 1,000 new bankers to serve wealthy clients by 2010, taking the total to around 4,100. Mr Berchthold said that long-term growth prospects for the wealth management industry were intact. He confirmed mid-term targets of a pre-tax profit margin of at least 40 per cent in its wealth management division and net new assets to grow by over 6 per cent a year. While Swiss rival UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, was forced to write off some SFr16 billion ($14.5 billion) on its portfolio of securities linked to US residential mortgages, Credit Suisse has so far limited its assets write-down to SFr2.2 billion. In the third quarter, Credit Suisse reported overall, net income of SFr1.3 billion, down 11 per cent year-on-year. But wealth management net revenues rose 27 per cent, to SFr3.3 billion. The bank's wealth management expansion plans to target Latin America, Europe, India, Japan, the US and the Middle East. In particular, Credit Suisse said it aimed to build a comprehensive wealth management operation in the US, establish an onshore presence in Japan in 2008 and enter the onshore markets in Mexico and Brazil. The group said it expected around SFr1.6 billion in revenue synergies in 2007 resulting from its "One Bank" strategy designed to capture business arising within different business segments in the group. This compares to SFr1.2 billion in synergies in 2006.