Mr Peters, how would you present your group, KBL European Private Bankers?
In Europe, KBL European Private Bankers S.A. is the only network where private banking forms the core business. In effect, we have given our 485 private bankers, key elements in our strategy, the task of putting the client at the centre of our concerns. To do this we put emphasis on being close to people and on respecting local cultures and identities wherever we are.
Historically focussed on the countries of western Europe (Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, England, Spain, Switzerland, Monaco) our network of private bankers has recently opened its doors to central and eastern Europe, further strengthening our identity of European private bankers.
Since May this year you have had a new shareholder, the Hinduja family group. What was the determining factor in attracting this family, well-known for its cautious approach to investments, to you?
The Hinduja Group bought us for what we are. They fully endorse our entrepreneurial model, localised decision-making at the most appropriate level in each subsidiary, great confidence in the people, our private bankers, who work there and our client-based strategy. These values are very important in the eyes of the Hinduja family. I also think that it is this corporate culture, focussed around our human capital which creates our wealth, which attracted the Hinduja Group.
What are the advantages for you in having Hinduja by your side?
Firstly, it’s a family, not an anonymous financial group. The different generations within the family play an important role. With them it is personal contact which is most important. Private bankers like us feel very much at ease with this type of investor.
Then the Hinduja Group shares the same entrepreneurial philosophy as us. Like us, it is in favour of local empowerment.
Lastly, with the Hinduja family, we have a relationship of mutual confidence which is going to allow us to build with them for the future.
The group has interests in over 100 countries which gives us privileged access to the rapidly growing markets of the Middle East, India and Asia.
How do you see your development in the next few years?
It is precisely thanks to the network of business relationships that the Hinduja Group has in Europe, the Middle East and India that we are going to be able to take the development of KBL European Private Bankers along some new paths. Among these I am thinking of the Indian diaspora which accounts for many businessmen and industrialists in Europe and the Middle East and to which we will be able to offer private banking services from all locations in our network.
Finally, I’m convinced that we are going to be able to build a bridge between Europe and India, a region where wealth is being created, as I’m sure you don’t need reminding. I think we will be able to offer various financial products in which we have developed expertise in Europe. Through the intermediary of Indusind Bank we will be able to meet the investment needs of the burgeoning Indian middle classes. We are also going to be able to play the role of banking adviser to European companies wanting to invest in the Subcontinent. For us it will be a complementary business line for the private bank.
You have developed an original model of a group of private bankers. Is this model going to carry on?
Yes, of course it is, but with some new ambitions. The Hinduja Group is, above all, interested by our core business, private banking, whose core target is a clientele with between €500,000 and €5m. This is very encouraging when you know that €500,000 is a reasonable figure for the Indian middle classes. We are going to continue to do what we do well but we are going to be able to offer products to new markets. An example is Asset Management, in which many synergies are planned since Indusind, like other Indian banks, does not have the capacity to offer this at an international level, unlike KBL. Don’t forget that our Global Investor Services platform manages some €47bn across themed or sectoral funds developed in Luxembourg or in our various European subsidiaries. The KBL fund range consists of more than 100 funds which could be adapted and marketed in India tomorrow. One more reason to let new clients benefit from the experience we have gained.
The Hinduja Group has developed Trade Finance in its bank in Switzerland. This is due to the origins of the Hinduja family’s activities which are not to be found in industry but in financing import-export. At the moment this is something that KBL does not offer, but in the near future we will merge our activities with this bank and will be able to offer this type of service to existing and future clients.
You’ve talked to us about your ambitions, supported by the Hinduja Group. But what is the exact role of KBL European Private Bankers going to be within the Hinduja Group?
All the Group’s banking activities are going to be placed under the control of KBL. In other words we are going to become the headquarters for the Hinduja Group’s financial and banking activities around the world. Not only will Hinduja Bank Switzerland and its Dubai subsidiary come under our control but we will also have direct access to a network of 1,225 points of sale and 2 million clients in India through Indusind Bank.
If I understand you correctly, Europe has become too small for you and the Hinduja Group is opening the door to a much larger geographical area, an area which extends as far as India?
Yes, thanks to the Hinduja bank in Switzerland we are inheriting a banking licence in Dubai. The Middle East will be the first stage in our development but other options are already being looked at. Up to now we have been unable to access this market, which includes the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, due to our lack of contacts in the area.
We are carefully examining the needs of clients in this region and we are implementing appropriate formulas to meet their expectations. Of course the Indian market will also be one of our targets thanks to the support and the local market presence of Indusind Bank in which the Hinduja family already holds an interest.
I would also remind you that if we speak more and more of the “old” Europe, this is not without reason. Our continent, and I’m including Great Britain here, is suffering from slow growth to say the least. However, the Middle East, just like India, is still enjoying double-digit growth. So it’s quite natural for us to have our heart set on expanding there.
