Despite the growing number of private banks adding crypto products and services to their offerings, Pictet’s Asia wealth chief thinks otherwise, underlining excessive volatility as the issue.
While a growing number of private banks are offering crypto to wealthy clients including Julius Baer, LGT, Goldman Sachs, and more, Pictet believes that adoption at this point might be premature. Although it has a team monitoring the market, the Swiss pure play is not ready to add the nascent asset class to its offering.
«Crypto will be an asset class that we cannot ignore but today, I don’t think there is a place for private bankers and for private bank portfolios,» said Pictet Asia wealth management chief executive Tee Fong Seng to «Bloomberg» during a summit it hosted yesterday.
While Pictet does not issue crypto certificates, investors can purchase third-party certificates through the firm.
Volatility in 2022
Since peaking in November last year, crypto markets have erased $2 trillion in market value with a raft of headline collapses from both digital assets like stablecoin TerraUSD or sister token Luna as well as related companies like hedge fund Three Arrows or crypto lender Celsius Network.
«If you look at the volatility for the last two years, you can make a lot of money, you can lose a lot of money,» Tee said. «The question is, when do we bring the clients into the picture?»
