Deutsche Bank Belgium aims to position itself as a global player and to expand further in the private & wealth management segment. Local presence is important. The distinguishing factor compared to other private banks and wealth managers is that Deutsche Bank Belgium focuses primarily on investment advice and support, including for small portfolios. The standard discretionary management of the competition is definitely not the strategy pursued.
This is what emerged from an interview with Olivier Delfosse (photo), CEO of Deutsche Bank Belgium and head of Private Banking for Benelux and France at Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank Belgium is mainly known as a private bank, but it is also very active in corporate banking, investment banking and investment services.
“We want to grow in these different segments in Belgium and have investment bankers in Brussels again since Brexit. We can now also serve this market from Paris and Amsterdam. Brussels is a central location for corporate banking, especially for services to large Belgian companies,” explained Delfosse.
Valued advice
According to Delfosse, Deutsche Bank wants to become the leading bank for investors who value advice. “This is what makes the difference with most private banks in our country, which mainly or exclusively offer in-house discretionary management. We want to rely on in-depth analysis and quality research to advise and serve private clients in the best possible way.”
“We are probably not the right partner,” he went on, “for those who are only looking for standard banking services. Nor do we want to separate ourselves from customer segments. Wealthy clients with a portfolio of EUR 100,000 are certainly welcome with us. At the other end of the spectrum, Gilles Staquet will continue to develop wealth management for the upper end of the spectrum.
According to Delfosse, Deutsche Bank is also looking to leverage its position as a true global player. “More complex clients and demanding UHNWIs, such as family offices, family holdings and active entrepreneurs, can benefit from our international expertise and network. Deutsche Bank’s balance sheet can make a difference and enable the completion of very complex or large transactions.”
Developments
Delfosse talked about what he sees as several important developments in the Belgian market. On the one hand, the big Belgian banks are making big investments and communicating about their digital capacity to catch up with the big technology players like Amazon and Apple.
On the other hand, with the current negative interest rates, it is not yet very attractive for them to offer accounts, but when interest rates become positive again, they will be able to expand their services to accounts and services for individuals. According to Delfosse, Deutsche Bank Belgium is not aiming for this, unlike Germany, where 20 million of the 80 million Germans are customers of the bank in its home market.
He said that he views the independent advice and open architecture of Deutsche Bank Belgium as real differentiators from other banks. “We will not only provide advice based on market expectations and investment trends, but also want to exploit major economic trends, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and healthcare.”
“To this end,” he continued, “we will select the best managers in these themes. The pricing, the depth of research, the quality of our service and our people should also allow this, as should the significant investments in IT and digitalisation.”
The purely discretionary management model in vogue among many asset managers and private banks in Belgium is therefore definitely not the strategy pursued by Deutsche Bank Belgium.
Restlessness
Delfosse said that we live in an uncertain world, with a lot of turmoil among some investors, so it is always important to have a helicopter view.
“America is the most important economy, followed by China. Europe is also our home market, and investors should definitely stay invested there. But then we need to look at the trends and investments that will make a difference in uncertain times.”
He concluded by warning of the danger of inflation, which could seriously erode the purchasing power of the €300bn parked in Belgian savings accounts, even if it remains close to the ECB’s 2% target.
“Financial repression, with inflation exceeding interest rates, is a permanent problem. Savings behaviour in Belgium is worrying, and if people do nothing, their purchasing power will be seriously eroded. It is the role of the banker to discuss these risks and to diversify assets. Otherwise, the Belgian and, by extension, the European saver will become poorer.