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Rothschild Bank wants to expand its offering for entrepreneurs and start-ups and – in a first for the prestigious family-owned Swiss private bank – offer mortgage lending, CEO Laurent Gagnebin tells finews.com in an exclusive interview.

Laurent Gagnebin, your results for last year aren't totally compare because of a change in how you report, but it's nevertheless apparent that Rothschild posted outflows.

Yes, our financial year is just nine months this year because the entire Rothschild and Co group will use calendar year for financial year. We had a very good year overall, but we did have two major clients redirect their wealth management. We would have had inflows were it not for this one-time unique situation.

How was 2017 overall for Rothschild Private Bank? 

We're very pleased with the result, because our gross margin rose by 26 percent on a comparable basis and our net profit by 60 percent. This is thanks not least to our discipline with spending. We also recorded excellent investment performance and broadened our offering with a new advisory service and investment model. 

Clients especially appreciated that our advice is independent and free of conflict as well as the fact that advisers have a lot of time for them. On average, our private bankers take care of roughly 30 clients each.

What growth markets are you prioritizing in order to stanch the outflows? 

We recorded pleasing inflows in all our markets in the first months of this year, including our core onshore markets Switzerland, Germany, and Asia as well as international ones Mexico, Israel, and Spain and Portugal. 

«The Rothschilds have proven their entrepreneur ship over eight generations»

In Switzerland, we've expanded our offering for entrepreneurs and start-up firms – a very interesting segment for a bank like Rothschild. Our family owner has been been a successful entrepreneur for eight generations and proven they can secure and further develop wealth over the long-term.

Do you have a target for the entire bank's assets under management?

We manage more than 30 billion Swiss francs ($31.7 billion) on our platform. Our goal is to keep boosting client assets. We're ambitious and we want to benefit from our good position in the market.