Press «play» to listen to this content
1x
Playback Speed- 0.5
- 0.6
- 0.7
- 0.8
- 0.9
- 1
- 1.1
- 1.2
- 1.3
- 1.5
- 2
commerzbank challenges swiss rivals. the german market is getting tougher for switzerland's private-banking institutes: commerzbank is expanding its business at breathtaking speed. wealth management in a market with the sheer number of millionaires that germany boasts is extremely attractive – and for swiss banking even more so because of the geographical proximity and the lack of a language and cultural barrier. but such a markets tends to be hotly fought over, not least in the segment with affluent customers, who typically hold about one million euros. swiss banks with branches in germany, for instance ubs, credit suisse, julius baer or vontobel are known to have struggled to sustainably generate profits. still, vontobel germany last year finally became profitable after years of losses. and ubs would also have posted a profit at its german unti had it not been for reserves it had to put aside to cover for potential claims in the madoff fraud case. massive expansion at commerzbank. these rays of hope may soon fade given the speed of expansion at germany's no. 2 bank: commerzbank, which in part is owned by the state, has boosted the number of branches catering to rich clients as well as the number of private bankers it employs within the past 12 months. commerzbank currently operates 105 wealth-management offices, compared with 62 at the beginning of the year. the number of advisers has gone up to 1,000 from a previous 700. these figures today were reported by «private banking magazin». the german institute also does business in switzerland, where it has been operative since 2011. it has six branches with a total of about 130 employees. the focus in switzerland is on business customers. last year, it acquired 600 new corporate clients and increased revenue by a double-digit percentage figure.
Commerzbank Challenges Swiss Rivals
The German market is getting tougher for Switzerland's private-banking institutes: Commerzbank is expanding its business at breathtaking speed.
Wealth management in a market with the sheer number of millionaires that Germany boasts is extremely attractive – and for Swiss banking even more so because of the geographical proximity and the lack of a language and cultural barrier. But such a markets tends to be hotly fought over, not least in the segment with affluent customers, who typically hold about one million euros.
Swiss banks with branches in Germany, for instance UBS, Credit Suisse, Julius Baer or Vontobel are known to have struggled to sustainably generate profits.
Still, Vontobel Germany last year finally became profitable after years of losses. And UBS would also have posted a profit at its German unti had it not been for reserves it had to put aside to cover for potential claims in the Madoff fraud case.
Massive Expansion at Commerzbank
These rays of hope may soon fade given the speed of expansion at Germany's No. 2 bank: Commerzbank, which in part is owned by the state, has boosted the number of branches catering to rich clients as well as the number of private bankers it employs within the past 12 months.
Commerzbank currently operates 105 wealth-management offices, compared with 62 at the beginning of the year. The number of advisers has gone up to 1,000 from a previous 700. These figures today were reported by «Private Banking Magazin».
The German institute also does business in Switzerland, where it has been operative since 2011. It has six branches with a total of about 130 employees. The focus in Switzerland is on business customers. Last year, it acquired 600 new corporate clients and increased revenue by a double-digit percentage figure.
