Swiss banks pounce on Asian business

Asia has become an El Dorado for Swiss wealth managers at a time when traditional business from mature European markets is static or declining.

In Asia strong economic growth and spiralling personal fortunes from entrepreneurs floating their companies have created a new customer base seeking a secure home for its assets.

Meanwhile in stagnant Europe, bankers fear that recent planned tax deals between Switzerland and the UK and Germany will lead to a further loss of business from their traditional customers.

In the third quarter, Credit Suisse said net new money from Asian customers had grown at an annualised 20 per cent. UBS pinpointed the region as its most buoyant.

BSI, the smallest of the three and the last to launch in Asia, envisages having about SFr15bn in regional assets under management by 2015, compared with an initial SFr3bn and about SFr5bn now, after what Mr Gysi says has been “a very encouraging start.”

Being Swiss has helped them achieve recognition in a region focused on familiar brands. “Swissness, with all its perceived attributes, really seems a very important quality to Asian clients”, says Mr Collardi.

The three banks have simultaneously tried to distinguish themselves from UBS and Credit Suisse. Taking his reference from watchmaking, a Swiss speciality arguably even better known in Asia than Swiss banking, Mr Collardi adds: “We say, we’re the Patek Philippe, not the Rolex.”