“This partnership offers us a new arsenal of investment options. We also gain access to BlackRock’s technology and data. Our partner’s scale allows us to lower costs for our clients,” says Ludivine Pilate, CEO of Belgian private bank Puilaetco in an interview with Investment Officer.
European private bank Quintet, the parent company of Puilaetco, on Thursday announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with BlackRock. This American giant, with $9.1 trillion in assets under management, is the world’s largest asset manager.
“This collaboration will enable us to offer our clients even better investment solutions. In addition, BlackRock will be able to develop and launch new products quickly. This allows us to respond more quickly to changes in the market, so we can better meet our clients’ evolving needs,” said Pilate.
“It’s all about offering our clients even better solutions. So, we are expanding our investment capabilities and becoming more efficient. In collaboration with BlackRock, we will develop a new range of investment products for our clients,” said Ilario Attasi, Group Head of Investment Specialists, at Quintet.
Bespoke approach
“We stress that we maintain control over all investment decisions for our clients. Moreover, we do not adopt a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. We will work closely with BlackRock to tailor solutions for our clients,” emphasised Attasi.
“We have a good team of investment strategists who will continue their work as usual. Through the collaboration, they will have access to a new arsenal of custom products that they can use to implement their vision. In addition, we gain access to additional risk management technology. Furthermore, we will be able to offer our clients even more detailed reporting,” added Pilate.
She points out that these will not be BlackRock’s standard products, but exclusive solutions for Quintet. “The products that emerge from this collaboration will be tailor-made. They will be released under the Quintet name. So, clients can be sure that our unique DNA will be preserved. BlackRock will not dictate how we operate, but will supply tools and data that we can apply in our own process. This will create a lot of added value, so that one plus one essentially becomes three.”
“We thus maintain our open architecture. BlackRock is best known to the general public for its ETFs. But in our approach, we combine active and passive funds, as well as direct lines. This will remain the case and BlackRock will work with us on these three axes,” said Attasi.
Best partner
Before the collaboration, several potential partners were weighed. “We chose BlackRock because of the breadth and depth of their offering. The ‘time to market’ for new products was also an important element. BlackRock can quickly launch new products, which allows us to react promptly. Moreover, BlackRock has a local department in the countries where we operate. As a result, they better understand our DNA and we are aligned in terms of mindset,” Attasi believes.
“We can also enjoy the scale advantages of our partner. Due to its size, BlackRock can obtain better rates, which for example allows us to get cheaper access to active funds. We will pass these savings on to our customers.”
“As a private bank, we believe in a very personal and small-scale approach where we keep the lines short. Through the collaboration, we can combine this with the broad offering of one of the largest players in the world. This way, we offer the best of both worlds and deliver added value to our clients. Furthermore, BlackRock’s scale allows us to do this at a competitive price,” Pilate concludes.