World’s Best Private Banks 2021: Eastern European

Non-public banking is a comparatively younger business in Central and Japanese Europe, and the observe differs in some necessary respects from Western fashions. Most CEE nations home much less “previous cash,” or inherited wealth, than these with longer-running capitalist economies. As a substitute, the good majority of personal banking purchasers are entrepreneurs and enterprise house owners who’ve constructed up wealth throughout their very own lifetime or are the primary technology to inherit. Non-public bankers subsequently want to mix experience in wealth administration with a ability set that addresses their purchasers’ wants as enterprise house owners.

Whereas some markets, equivalent to Poland, are rising quickly and attracting extra competitors, in most CEE nations non-public banking providers are offered by devoted items throughout the native subsidiaries of huge European banks. These gamers can leverage the funding banking, fund administration and expertise capabilities of a big and highly effective monetary providers group to fulfill the wants of their purchasers in a set of still-emerging wealth markets.

Methodology: Behind the Rankings

World Finance employees choose winners for these awards primarily based on entries submitted by banks, firm paperwork and public filings. No proprietary info was sought or shared within the awards course of. We think about native market information, world footprint and funding breadth and class. As a result of metrics are not often public on this delicate nook of finance, we incorporate perspective from analysts and consultants. Efficiency knowledge are additionally drawn from business sources together with Scorpio Partnership’s annual World Non-public Banking Benchmark and Asian Non-public Banker journal’s regional league tables. Dimension and progress are an element, however World Finance additionally thought of creativity, uniqueness of providing and dedication to personal banking as a core enterprise both globally or regionally.

 BEST PRIVATE BANK IN CENTRLA AND EASTERN EUROPE

UNICREDIT

UniCredit’s aggressive benefit is its portfolio modeling group’s World Funding Technique, which informs its native bankers’ asset allocation and different key funding selections. Open structure builds upon robust partnerships with prime world asset managers, enabling shopper entry to a broad vary of funding alternatives, together with alternate options and personal fairness, which might be more and more in demand as purchasers search higher threat diversification in the course of the Covid disaster. UniCredit’s a number of choices within the environmental, social and governance sphere equally open funding alternatives for purchasers targeted on attaining sustainable outcomes.

BEST PRIVATE BANK FOR ENTREPRENEURS

CREDIT SUISSE

Credit score Suisse has constructed a powerful shopper base amongst entrepreneurs throughout the area and particularly in Russia, the place it lately strengthened its experience in offshore non-public banking by poaching an 11-strong Russia group from BNP Paribas.

Globally, CEO Thomas Gottstein has bolstered Credit score Suisse’s push to be the “financial institution for entrepreneurs,” tightening regional buildings and centralizing advisory and lending for worldwide wealth administration. In October, the financial institution employed Christian Meissner, former head of company and funding banking at Financial institution of America, to tailor the group’s funding banking providers to fulfill the non-public banking wants of rich entrepreneurs. This included establishing a brand new funding financial institution advisory group focusing on entrepreneurs with midsized corporations recording annual revenues of $50 million to $500 million on company offers, bond and fairness issuance.

Trying forward, the Swiss lender is creating a brand new digital direct non-public financial institution with what it anticipates will probably be a best-in-class app for wealth administration.

BEST PRIVATE BANK FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

RAIFFEISEN BANK INTERNATIONAL

Raiffeisen Financial institution Worldwide (RBI) has a broad geographic presence throughout the CEE area and enjoys robust help from the Vienna-based establishment’s funding banking and asset administration groups. Within the Covid-19 period, when many privately owned companies are restructuring their funds, RBI additionally has accelerated lending to enterprise house owners—together with these within the CEE area, the place it’s particularly wanted.

RBI has been capable of preserve its non-public banking providers to enterprise house owners in the course of the pandemic due to its seamless swap to distant channels to offer advisory providers and allow transactions. Improved digital entry by its RaiConnect app launched in September empowers its non-public bankers to offer ongoing help for premium and company purchasers.

EXCELLENCE IN CRISIS: CLIENT SERVICES

SBERBANK

Russian banking big Sberbank is pleased with its technological prowess. Certainly, it’s rebranding and altering their title, itself as what some have referred to as “a tech firm with a banking license.” These expertise have enabled it to make a speedy and versatile swap to distant working, successfully establishing a digital non-public financial institution.

Sberbank’s funding advisory groups offered virtually 3 times as many funding concepts and suggestions within the first half of 2020 as they did in the identical interval final 12 months, and the non-public banking group attracted 10% extra purchasers. In response to the pandemic, it rolled out a brand new platform and user-friendly procedures to make donations supporting analysis for a vaccine and medicines to combat Covid-19, with Sberbank committing to match shopper donations.