What's NewS Switzerland IPB IN ZURICH - SWISS tradition, Rabobank CULTURE Supplement for What's NewS August 1996 In the space of only one year, Rabobank Switzerland has made significant progress in putting in place the kind of international private banking operation which will put the bank on the IPB map. Assets under management have grown spectacularly, primarily through carefully selected acquisitions. A sound organizational structure has been established to accommodate projected growth and the team in Zurich is now looking to expand its dient base through targetted marketing. What's NewS asks the team how it plans to achieve its goals. The stately Jugendstil building on the quiet, tree-lined Brandschenkestrasse in the heart of Zurich's banking district looks every inch the private bank. Clients are welcomed by Katharina Fontana in the understated solidity of the reception area before being led to adjacent discrete conference rooms for discussions with their private bankers. Although you aren't obliged to whisper here, the atmosphere suggests a muted tone Pvould be most appropriate. General manager Heinz Zimmer laughs at the thought, especially when this almost solemn calm is contrasted with the hive of activity on the floors above. 'We have certainly tried to create an area specifically designated for clients that will express the tradition of Swiss private banking they expect - solid, discrete, confidential.' But behind the scenes, the 40-strong team is actively engaged in a major push towards building Zurich into a name in international private banking. BIG NUMBERS This push is right on track. When Zimmer joined the bank in June of last year, the then small team of 17 had around CHF 500 million under management. 'Everyone gets excited by big numbers,' he says, 'so let me give you some. If everything goes according to plan, we will have almost CHF 3 billion to look after in the very near future. We have already more than doubled our staff because without this level of infrastructure you couldn't run the bank. And this year we will make 10 percent on equity. But even though these numbers look very good, in relative terms we are still miniscule. What the figures mean is that we have come to a position which separates the men from the boys; if you pursue that analogy, then we're "pre-teen". The first thing you have to achieve is break-even. We have reached that point; now we're playing catch up.' RAPID GROWTH Zurich has grown so rapidly because it has pursued what Zimmer describes as 'an opportunistic acquisition program'. 'If you want to achieve the velocity we needed to carry us rapidly from sub- optimal size to break-even point, then you have to go out and find ways to bring in relationship managers and their clients. This is what we have done. Once you achieve the break-even situation, the key is to manage the growth and still produce a decent return for the parent company. This Bruno Morf explains why we have made extremely careful acquisitions which are self-financing. The first was a team of relationship managers from SB Bank, a small, but reputable Swiss private bank. The second was the Swiss-based private banking unit of Austria's GiroCredit. There is a third in the pipeline - Bruno Morf who is responsible for special mandates is closely involved in this project. But nothing has been finalized yet, so we can't really discuss it at this point in time.' INTEGRATING ACQUISITIONS According to Zimmer, Rabobank Switzerland hasn't made a big splash about these acquisitions because it doesn't make sense - 'if we take over a sizeable organisation, then we'11 do a press release,' he laughs. 'What is important for Heinz Zimmer J PRIVATE BANKING IN ZWITSERLAND Zwitserland heeft ambitieuze doelstellingen. Zoals het afgelopen jaar is gebleken zijn er al grote vorderingen gemaakt. Het begon met de overname van een team private bankers van SB Bank en het kantoor van de Oostenrijkse GiroCredit. General manager Heinz Zimmer is nu druk bezig met de volgende grote stap. Het Zwitserse team is inmiddels verdubbeld om de benodigde infrastructuur te krijgen. Dit jaar wordt een ROE verwacht van 10% en het kantoor draait break-even. Het is nu tijd vooreen grote sprong voorwaarts.

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blad 'What's news' (EN) | 1996 | | pagina 7