Sebastian Dovey, managing partner at Scorpio Partnership, visited us at Arvetica last week. We used the opportunity to interview him on his views on private banking and wealth management.

We started with a question about his understanding of “the essence of private banking”, as we do with all private banking professionals we talk to. Interestingly, Sebastian points to the gap between what private banking means to banks (asset management) and what private banking means to private clients (a multitude of things).

We also asked Sebastian about Scorpio Partnership’s “Private Banking Benchmark 2007” and what ranks highest on the agenda of private banking top management. As to priorities, Sebastian emphasizes that private banks must focus more on deepening the penetration of assets with existing clients rather than increasing further distribution.

What I found particularly intriguing during the webcast were Sebastian’s insights he shared on the views of private clients. In their mandates for private banks and wealth managers, Scorpio conducts over 700 face-to-face, qualitative interviews per year with wealthy individuals and families. One of the findings is a variance of mild and acute dissatisfaction of private clients with the [lack of] pro-activity of financial institutions. Furthermore, Sebastian mentions a sense of frustration of some clients as to what the value proposition really is. Some relatively recent clients have been “honeymooned” into a banking relationship and then haven’t seen the active asset management promises they were given at the beginning.

Enjoy the full webcast with Sebastian Dovey:

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