10.
EFG International delivered “record” profits in 2023.
Net profits grew by 50 percent year-on-year from CHF 202.4 million to CHF 303.2 million at the end of 2023.
Pre-tax profits grew by an even greater 96.1 percent from CHF 237.1 million to CHF 333.2 million.
However, it should be noted the 2022 figure included a “substantial de-risking” through the final settlement of longstanding legacy issue relating to a client relationship with a Taiwanese insurance company, impacting the profit figure significantly.
9.
Funds built around good environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles faced their toughest test yet in 2023, giving rise to questions about the sustainability of demand for sustainable investments. But wealth managers specialising in the area are refusing to have their confidence knocked.
Global ESG and sustainable funds saw redemption of close to $2.5 billion in the last quarter of 2023, according to Morningstar data. This was the first time net flows fell into negative territory, against a continuously challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop and waning investor appetite for ESG investments.
US investors pulled out a record $5 billion in the last quarter, for a total of $13 billion over 2023, as the political backlash against ESG in the country intensified. Europe held up better, taking in $3.3 billion of net new money in the fourth quarter, thanks to passive funds, which collected $21.3 billion. Actively managed sustainable funds, however, bled close to $18 billion.
8.
Financial services and energy provider Octopus is set to grow its shareholding in investment platform Seccl as its two co-founders depart the business.
Seccl was founded by Dave Harvey and Hugo Thorman after their departure from Ascentric, which Mr Thorman led as chief executive and Mr Harvey supported in a number of senior technology roles.
The pair designed the company around modern, cloud-native and API-first software principles, in a bid to usher in a new era within the platform market – one characterised by operational efficiency, lowered costs, improved customer experience and rapid and continued product innovation.
7.
Nominations are now open for the 2024 PAM NextGen Leaders list.
This annual listing supersedes the highly acclaimed PAM Top 40 Under 40, which launched in 2009 and ran successfully for 14 years. We decided it was time to rebrand the initiative, to reflect changing trends in the modern workplace.
As part of the change, we have removed the age limit, instead focusing on the number of years of qualified work experience. This ensures that we are not excluding those who may have had career breaks or career changes.
6.
Alexander Cowan-Sanluis, chief executive at wealth tech Platform One, recently spoke to thewealthnet about his trip to Saudia Arabia as part of the Saudi British Joint Business Council’s UK fintech delegation.
Speaking on a panel at the Saudi UK Fintech Venture Day and learning more about the country has left the chief executive feeling optimistic towards the region…
“A lot has changed in Saudi Arabia in the last few decades, much of which, of course, has been public,” Mr Cowan-Sanluis says.
As well as transformation social change such as abolishing religious police and allowing women to drive, there has been an onus on opening up Saudi Arabia’s global trade beyond the oil sector, which has dominated the country’s exports for decades. [Read more from Ethan Almond here]
5.
Given the controversy surrounding Coutts and the bank’s closure of Nigel Farage’s accounts, its full year results for 2023 should have generated considerable interest, especially among some conspiracy theorists.
At first sight the latter should not have been disappointed.
After a sparkling first half of 2023 when NatWest Private Banking grew total income and operating profits by 22.99 percent and 25.13 percent respectively, the second half of the year turned out to be a reversal. [Read more from Ian Orton here]
4.
Anyone that doubts the ability of private banking and wealth management to not only generate high returns but also to outperform other elements of the financial services universe should take a look at the slides that accompanied Barclays’ latest 2023 results presentation.
Slide 42 clearly shows that the newly constituted private bank and wealth management division generated an average statutory return on tangible equity of 31 percent over the period 2021-23.
This outperforms Barclays' other four newly constituted operating divisions by a huge margin.
Barclays UK, the retail bank, posted a return of 19 percent over the same period. [Read more from Ian Orton here]
Adam Young
3.
Smythe House, part of boutique wealth group Oberon Investment, has added two to its team.
Adam Young was appointed as director of its private office.
Having begun his financial services career at Barclays in 1984, he went on to found his own business Dragonfly.
After this, he co-founded Jarrovian Wealth in 2017 where he led the private office division, overseeing the financial planning affairs of more than 150 high net worth families.
Tom Santa-Olalla
2.
Sarasin & Partners appointed Tom Santa-Olalla as a senior associate partner and Hector McLean as an investment manager in its charities team.
Mr Santa-Olalla joined the firm from Close Brothers Asset Management, where he worked for six years, most recently as a senior investment specialist.
Prior to this, he worked at HSBC Private Bank advising high and ultra-high net worth individuals.
1.
Barclays appointed Sasha Wiggins as chief executive of its private bank and wealth management business.
Ms Wiggins will also become a member of the bank’s executive committee, and will report to the group chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan.
This appointment comes as part of a reorganisation of Barclay’s reporting lines, meaning the bank will now report financial results via the following segments:
- Barclays UK
- Barclays UK Corporate Bank
- Barclays Private Bank and Wealth Management
- Barclays Investment Bank
- Barclays US Consumer Bank