Swiss bank Vontobel has reported an increase in client assets by 4% compared with the end of June, reaching a new record level of CHF180.3bn (€149.2bn) in the third quarter of 2014, and further expansion of its leading position in the multi-issuer platform space with the addition of Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) to the pool of issuers plugged to deritrade.

In its Q3 2014 results, Vontobel said that issuers now represented on deritrade account for more than 70% of the volume on the SIX Structured Products Exchange AG

“The Multi Issuer Platform has thus established itself as the industry benchmark, delivering significantly greater benefits for clients as a result of systematic digitalisation,” said the bank in a statement.

SRP data
Statistics on SRP’s Swiss database show that Vontobel continues to dominate the retail structured products market with around 30% market share doubling that of Leonteq, the second most active issuer in Switzerland this year which has a 15% market share year to date. The Swiss bank sold over CHF5.4bn (€4.4bn) during the first three quarters of 2014.

SRP data also shows that Vontobel marketed more than 4,300 structures as of 30 September of which 3,815 are still live structures.

The firm invested heavily in its structured products business during this period and acquired the other existing multi-issuer platform in Switzerland, derivative.com, effectively removing the competition in the multi-issuer platform space although UBS recently launched a pilot phase to offer investment banks access to its new issuance platform called EQ/FX Investor. Vontobel also rolled out its deritrade platform in Singapore.

As part of this expansion, Vontobel hired Patrick Stettler, the former head of public distribution - Switzerland at UBS, as head of sales Europe, multi issuer platform; Thomas Süssli who took over the management of Vontobel Financial Products (Asia Pacific) in Singapore; and Eugen Lee who was appointed head of sales financial products, Asia Pacific.

AM/PB
The bank’s asset management division generated a broad-based inflow of new money and a stable gross margin in the third quarter, attracting significant inflows to the bank’s Quality Growth product line.

Vontobel also reported that its Swiss Fixed Income boutique accounted for 30% of net new money, and that from a performance quality perspective 70% of the bank’s wealth management products on an asset-weighted basis outperformed the benchmark.

Vontobel said that as part of its continued focus on defined core markets, it moved ahead with the expansion of its activities in Switzerland, Germany and Asia by strengthening its adviser base.

“The targeted recruitment of new relationship managers is viewed as an investment in the business that is designed to increase its income base, even if it has an adverse impact on the profitability of the Private Banking business unit in the short term,” said the bank. “Overall, the bank’s asset base grew slightly compared with mid-2014 while the gross margin remained close to the previous year’s level.”

According to the bank, its private banking business “achieved a promising start” with its strategy for the Asia region, which comprises a focused offering and uses the Vontobel booking platform in Switzerland, and its multi-issuer platform, deritrade.

“This strategy confirms the value of Vontobel’s differentiated positioning,” the bank said. “The business with external asset managers (EAMs) that is located within Investment Banking displayed continued growth.”

Assets under management totalled CHF7.6bn (€6.3bn) at the end of September. Vontobel also reported that the business with US private clients is on track, with its asset base now exceeding CHF1.6bn (€1.3bn) in the direct client business and CHF1.2bn (€900m) in the business with third-party SEC-licensed asset managers.

Going forward, Vontobel will focus on organic growth and the expansion of its adviser base in the coming years. The Swiss bank expects its results for the full year to “slightly exceed” the results of 2013.

See also:
Zürcher Kantonalbank joins Vontobel’s deritrade platform
Vontobel appoints European head of multi-issuer platform sales
Vontobel PB and AM units drive profits
Vontobel appoints new head of financial products in Singapore
Raiffeisen terminates agreement with Vontobel, teams up with Avaloq
Vontobel appoints wealth management chief in Asia
Vontobel snaps up click ’n’ trade competitor
Vontobel rolls out deritrade in Singapore