Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse is unifying its wealth management operations into a single global division.
This is part of the bank’s plan to revamp its business structure and divert away from investment banking.
Starting from January 2022, the group will be reorganised into four divisions – wealth management, investment bank, Swiss bank and asset management – and four regions – Switzerland; Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea); Asia Pacific (Apac) and Americas. The leadership team of the newly organised operations will be announced in due course.
Over the next three years, the bank will be “deploying” CHF3bn (£2.41bn, $3.28bn, €2.84bn) of capital to its wealth management division, as well as increase the ratio of capital allocated to the wealth, Swiss bank and asset management operations compared to its investment banking arm.
A more ‘streamlined’ business
Thomas Gottstein, group chief executive at Credit Suisse, said: “With this strategic review, we have determined a clear and compelling way forward, building on existing strengths and accelerating growth in key strategic business areas.
“We will become a more streamlined bank, with expected lower volatility of earnings and with a sharper focus on the markets we operate in.
“We have the ambition to further strengthen our position as a global leader in wealth management and we will make further investments in areas where we have competitive advantages within our more focused and more capital-light investment bank, our leading and client-centric bank in Switzerland as well as our multi-specialist asset manager.
“I am confident that with the measures we announced today, we will be better positioned to leverage our strengths, control our risks and further build connectivity with the wealth management division, bringing the whole of our bank to all our private, corporate and institutional clients around the world.”
Wealth management focus
The global wealth management division of Credit Suisse is expected to accelerate growth with an increase of about 25% in allocated capital by 2024.
The bank plans to exit approximately 10 non-core wealth management markets, but it did not specify which ones.
Around 500 relationship managers will be hired to join the division over the next three years, which represents an increase of about 15% from 2021.
Credit Suisse wants to have approximately CHF1.1trn in assets under management by 2024, an increase of CHF200bn from current levels. The growth strategy is expected to deliver recurring revenues of at least CHF1bn by 2024 combined with growth in transaction-based revenues.
