Both UBS and Credit Suisse are about to take some strategic decisions, says André van Hooren of Willis Towers Watson on finews-TV. He expects them to focus more on wealth management.
Merging DWS and the asset management of UBS would make sense, says André van Hooren, industry leader for financial institutions in Western Europe at Willis Towers Watson in an interview mit finews-TV. The negotiations between Deutsche Bank and UBS are said to have stalled, but a deal still seems possible.
Similar mergers in asset management – Amundi in France for instance, which came about through a deal between Crédit Agricole and Société Générale – were reasonably successful, he said. In today's market, banks are forced to look carefully at their strategic positioning, van Hooren added.
Large Enough to Stem the Change
The two big Swiss banks have done fairly well in how they positioned their companies, the adviser added. It made sense to develop Switzerland's reputation as a hub for private banking and to focus on global wealth management. Size matters more than ever, van Hooren said. «Both banks need to rely on digitization and that comes with investments. You need to be large enough to make that happen.»
Both banks will likely become more active in global mergers and acquisitions to improve their strategic positioning, he said. Whether the business of a universal bank continues to make sense in that context is not so sure.
What Are Tidjane Thiam's Plans for SUB?
«Do we need both UBS and Credit Suisse with a strong universal bank in Switzerland,» van Hooren asked, in addition to the cantonal banks and Raiffeisen. Or would it make sense to focus on global wealth management instead? «I imagine that Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam will do something with the universal bank,» van Hooren concluded in the interview.
finews-TV on Youtube
finews.com publishes on its Youtube Web-TV-Channel features and interviews with well-known figures of Swiss finance.
Subscribe to finews-TV and you will be notified when new videos are available:
