The Vontobel Group is establishing a private banking presence in Dubai with the aim of providing service and advice directly to wealthy private clients in the region, with a special emphasis on its structured products range.
"Structured products should form an integral part of the investment portfolios of wealthy private clients," said Roger Studer, head of investment banking at the Vontobel Group. "As a leading Swiss issuer, we combine our recognised expertise in the field of financial products with our competencies as a wealth and asset manager to create clear added value for our clients."
Studer added that Vontobel's 'modular architecture' will allow third-party providers to structure their own derivatives and design their structured products by using the bank's 'deritrade' distribution platform and its range of underlyings and product types with diverse risk/return profiles.
The Swiss group said it is expanding its wealth and asset management activities beyond Switzerland and Germany "in a dynamic growth market" and that it will broaden its product range with new services from its financial products business.
Vontobel's private banking operations in Dubai will be managed by regional head for the private clients business, Ramzi Charaf, an experienced private banker who, together with his team, joined Vontobel last summer.
Peter Fanconi, head of private banking at the Vontobel Group, said the expansion of the business into the Middle East is both a logical step forward and a response to the region's undiminished growth potential: "Our activities in Dubai are based on a systematic cross-border strategy that is designed to serve and advise wealthy private clients in international markets in compliance with local regulations but using our powerful booking platform in Switzerland," he said.
Vontobel will conduct its private banking activities and distribute structured products in the region through its own local bank, Bank Vontobel (Middle East) Ltd.