Following the launch of Credit Suisse Invest - a human-led digital advisory solution combining 'the bank's digital private banking technology platform, a retrocession free offering and a contextualized advisory process', aimed at professional and accredited investors with accounts at the bank's Hong Kong and Singapore booking centers, SRP spoke to Wei Mei Tan (pictured), head of portfolio solutions at Credit Suisse Private Banking Asia Pacific, about the benefits of the new tool to promote the bank's offering.
"Client interest for Credit Suisse Invest has been very good and take-up rate is very encouraging," said Tan. "Going forward, I am very optimistic about our ability to roll this out to even more clients," she said. According to Tan, more than 75% of the Credit Suisse Invest clients are users of the Credit Suisse Private Banking Asia Pacific app, a tool launched by the Swiss bank in Hong Kong in 2016 to enhance investor's access to portfolio analytics, research and market data, collaboration and transaction services including trading in structured products and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), to manage their Credit Suisse Invest portfolio digitally.
The release of Credit Suisse Invest in Asia "follows the success in the Switzerland booking center, where it was introduced in 2015 and has currently more than CHF45bn (US$46bn) of assets under contract in these advisory solutions across the globe," according to Tan.
"Given the bank's multi-year growth trajectory in Asia in terms of discretionary and advisory mandates, Credit Suisse Invest will further support the continued evolution of our investors' portfolio preferences and digital needs," said Tan.
According to Tan, the new advisory solution is one whereby clients make their own investment decisions on their portfolios with the professional advice from the bank which is offered via 'a simple and aligned fee structure'.
One of the key features of Credit Suisse Invest is that clients receive professional advice tailored to their needs as well as direct access to Credit Suisse Chief Investment Office's views and a wide range of the bank's research expertise.
"Credit Suisse Invest enables investors to conveniently view the latest updates to their Credit Suisse Invest portfolio as well as the actionable ideas relevant to their chosen strategy via the Credit Suisse Private Banking Asia Pacific app," Tan said.
Clients of the bank can also access digitally regular market updates and the monthly Portfolio Quality Reports which provide scenario analyses on how historical market events would affect their performance, according to Tan.
"The report includes a Credit Suisse proprietary Portfolio Quality Score that indicates the portfolio's risk issues," Tan said. "This digital empowerment is further strengthened by client-initiated portfolio reviews, allowing relationship managers to take into consideration changes in the client's personal circumstances and adjust the investment strategy or rebalance the portfolio accordingly."
According to Tan, the new tool is not what is commonly known as 'robo-advisory' but a "highly individualized and tailored advisory solution that takes into account the client's needs, objectives and preferences, with the client making the final decisions on their chosen solutions."
Relationship managers remain a very core part of the entire process from guiding the clients in their assessment of the available Credit Suisse Invest strategies, conducting regular portfolio reviews and interacting with the client to assess their needs and ongoing suitability, according to Tan.
Users of Credit Suisse Invest can choose between Credit Suisse Invest Partner and Credit Suisse Invest Expert "depending on whether the clients' requirement is for model-based strategies or tailoring a bespoke portfolio, they can choose between Credit Suisse Invest Partner starting with minimum portfolio investment size of US$1m and Credit Suisse Invest Expert at US$10m."
"Credit Suisse Invest offers clients two transparent pricing models consisting of a flat fee or a hybrid fee comprising a combination of flat fee and reduced brokerage fee, based on the investment value of the solution," said Tan.
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