Swiss private bank Notenstein is throwing off ballast as it restructures, finews.com can reveal. Rival private bank Vontobel is emerging as a buyer.
Signs are mounting that St. Gallen-based private bank Notenstein La Roche is restructuring: several top executives including portfolio management head Roger Ganz have left the bank in recent months.
This comes as Notenstein La Roche prepares to take on all wealth management mandates from parent banks Raiffeisen, as well as migrating to a new core banking system from software provider Avaloq.
DZ Deal Collapse
Notenstein was in talks to buy Germany's DZ Private Bank in Zurich, but negotiations broke down after that bank's parent, cooperative Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken, demanded a share of future revenue that Notenstein deemed too high.
finews.com has now learned that Notenstein La Roche is in the process of offloading an Eastern European portfolio to rival Vontobel.
A spokeswoman for Notenstein confirmed that the bank is preparing to sell: «We're in talks with Vontobel about the sale of the Eastern Europe portfolio.» The bank didn't elaborate on the book's size, which finews.com estimates to be more than 1 billion francs in size – a vestige from Notenstein predecessor Wegelin & Cie.
The irony? Notenstein boss Adrian Kuenzi (pictured below) has talked up growth by acquisition recently, while apparently preparing to sell assets.
The decision comes against the backdrop of a rapidly-changing private banking industry, forcing Notenstein – a minnow compared to larger competitors – to adapt its strategy.
Renewed Swiss Focus
«The size of this portfolio doesn't warrant investments on the order of those necessary to continue catering to the needs of our eastern European clients,» the spokeswoman said. Instead, the bank wants to focus more strongly on Swiss business.
Roughly 70 percent of Notenstein's 20 billion francs in assets is Swiss, begging the question whether the bank wants to exit any other of its foreign markets such as the U.K., South Africa, or neighboring countries like Germany.
According to a source, South Africa will remain a core market for the St. Gallen-based private bank, while the other foreign markets are being evaluated.
Full Sale?
Vontobel confirmed to finews.com that it is buying the eastern Europe portfolio, but said no deal has been signed as the details are still being hammered out. It isn't immediately clear whether Notenstein's eastern Europe team, which is led by Oliver Moehl, will move to buyer Vontobel.
The rival private bank is a natural candidate to buy the assets because it already has a considerable book in eastern Europe, and could use reinforcement for its private bank.
The two firms have long maintained close enough ties for Notenstein to approach Vontobel about the disposal, instead of auctioning the book. For its part, Vontobel may well be prepared to take on more of Notenstein that simply asset books and portfolios around the edges. The private bank's owner, Raiffeisen, has until now resisted any efforts to buy Notenstein.
