8
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private banking
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WHAT'S News Issue 8 August 1996
SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
The rapid growth in personnel and assets under
management has, of course, major implications for Zurich's
v systems and the team who manage them. Working dosely
with the EDP unit in Luxembourg, Einar Mjöen is
N responsibleforthe smooth running of the AS400,the
Olympic private banking software and a whole range of
other applications in constant use in the bank. While he
agrees Olympic is probably the best private banking system
on the market, he will welcome the day when all
applications are more user friendly.'Every day, we get
requests from our people inhouse for less complex systems.
Our colleagues in Luxembourg are working hard on this. We
would also like to be able to use the mass of data we have
to make presentations, particularly to clients. Now, everyone
has a plain screen with a mass of information.The optimal
situation would be the ability to retrieve the data you want
and present it in an attractive format. I think that's the
future for us and we're working on it.'
Einar Mjöen
Mattias Bleuter
us is that we are comfortable
with the intake. For us as an
organization, new acquisitions
have to he digestible, they have
to be assimilated into our
culture, our Rabobank culture,
smoothly.' The acquisition
strategy has a two-fold purpose
- the first is to build the critical
mass outlined above. 'The
second is that in parallel you
create the infrastructure you
need to operate,' Zimmer
explains. 'Having put that in
place, you can then go out and
market to the network.'
CENTRE OF
COMPETENCE
All of these activities are
inherent elements in
Rabobank Switzerland's
strategy to position itself
as a centre of competence.
But there is a lot more to
the strategy than
acquisitions, opportunistic
or otherwise. A new
organizational structure,
both in terms of how
Zurich operates and how
it approaches its clients
has been put in place.
Building on this strategy
vigorously will mean
Zurich can be rather
more aggressive in its
approach to winning clients.
The current client-base has been
segmented into three areas of
service, depending on levels of
assets entrusted. 'The first is
standardized clients who receive
a basic level of service coupled
with IT support,' Zimmer
explains. 'The second is active
servicing with the same IT
support.' The third segment
receives the kind of intensive
personal service outlined by
Zurich's private bankers (see
box). Although amounts of
assets entrusted tend to be the
benchmark for segmenting
clients, Zimmer emphasizes that
no cliënt would ever be declined
based on level of assets. 'It
would be very arrogant of us to
say we only take clients with
CHF 1 million-plus,' he says.
Fvery cliënt is welcome here -
not least because you can never
be sure in the beginning what
Officially the 'management
assistant',Gertrud Machon does a lot
more than support the senior team.
With responsibility for personnel and
security in the building, she is at the
heart of Zurich's operation.
his total assets are. The only
criterium we apply is
differentiated service according
to funds entrusted.'
NO CURE, NO PAY
Every cliënt is welcome also
because private banks face
ever-tougher competition in
winning customers. 'We have
actually introduced an
incentive plan,' says Mathias
Bleuler, who recently joined
the bank as portfolio manager.
'What we offer clients is the
option of performance related
fees. This means the better we
perform, the more the cliënt
earns in terms of return, and
the more we, the bank, earn. It
is a great challenge for me as a
portfolio manager because in
the end it will be down to me
to generate that performance.
But if you look at the majority
of our clients, you see these are
business people who have
worked hard to build up their
assets. This is an approach that
appeals to the entrepreneurial
spirit in them. Basically, it's no
cure, no pay.'
BLENDING
TRADITIONS
Creating this kind of
value added is what
Zurich is all about. In
spite of Switzerland's
reputation as the private
banking centre, this
market is anything but
sinecure. Yet, the Zurich
team is confident. 'What
we aim to achieve here is
a fine blend of the best
traditions of Swiss
private banking and the
best traditions of
Rabobank,' Zimmer
confirms. 'There is a lot
of respect for the
Rabobank name in the
international community
- and we intend to build
on that to reach the
goals we have set out for
ourselves.'
CENTER OF COMPETENCE
Als Center of Competence richt het kantoor zich niet alleen op Zwitserland, maar ook worden van hieruit klanten in de Arabische
landen bediend. Verder geeft het leiding aan twee private bankers in Zuid-Amerika, in Buenos Aires en Sao Paulo, en de private
banking activiteiten in Duitsland.