Santander rejigs asset management, tailors investment banking services for private wealth clients

Santander Asset Management division has split its business into two separate hubs covering Latin America and Europe, and appointed heads for both units in a move to ‘strengthen relationships with banks and local clients’.

The asset management division of Santander has appointed Lázaro de Lázaro (pictured) to head the European hub and Luis García Izquierdo to head Latin America.

García Izquierdo most recently worked as Santander Asset Management's global chief financial officer; while De Lázaro who was the head of asset management for Spain, will be replaced by Miguel Ángel Sánchez, who was head of e-markets since April 2017, and responsible for Santander’s structured products in Spain and Portugal

In addition, Gonzalo Milans del Bosch has stepped down as global chief investment officer at Santander Asset Management for personal reasons after almost a year in the role.

Until the company selects a permanent replacement, Milans del Bosch's responsibilities will be shared by Eduardo Castro, the company's Brazil chief investment officer who will now head Latin America, and Jacobo Ortega Vich, the chief investment officer for Spain who will now take over responsibility for Europe.

The leadership changes are part of a reorganization launched by Mariano Belinky, who was appointed head of Santander Asset Management in February 2018. Belinky joined Santander from Santander InnoVentures, the bank’s US$200m fintech investment fund, which he led for three years.

Before joining Santander InnoVentures, Belinky was an associate principal at McKinsey  where he advised global banks and asset managers across Europe and the Americas. He also worked in the research technology team at Bridgewater Associates in the United States, and as a trader in equity derivatives markets at CCC La Capital del Plata in his native Buenos Aires.

The reshuffle of the asset management division follows the launch in December of Private Wealth. The new initiative - which sits within Santander Private Banking, is targeted at ultra-high net worth individuals with assets of at least €20m and an initial client base of 1,500 individuals.

The new platform focusses on ‘higher value-added, more personalized services, based on specific client needs’ and expands the collaboration with Santander corporate investment banking to offer tailored investment banking services to qualified private wealth clients. The platform’s structured products offering is divided into ‘strategic products’ and ‘tactical products’.

The offering includes traditional and alternative investments and advice on succession planning as well as support for the next generation of clients’ families and businesses through Santander’s partnership with 1,300 universities around the world.

This service led by Alfonso Castillo as global head of the private wealth segment will be delivered by a team of specialised bankers and includes the ‘deployment of cutting-edge, customized digital tools to track investments and simplify processes’.

The new Private Wealth unit is part of the wealth management division created by Santander, which is headed by Victor Matarranz, head of wealth management. Santander Private Banking, which forms part of the new wealth management division created last year serves 170,000 clients in the main markets in which the bank operates. The division had total assets under management of €333 billion as at 30 September 2018.

Santander was the second most active distributor of structured products in 2018 in Spain with 50 products marketed worth an estimated €780m, which represents a 22.5% market share.