Final Word 2018: Vincent Magnenat, Lombard Odier

 

Vincent Magnenat, limited partner & CEO Asia Pacific, Lombard Odier shares his views with Asian Private Banker in the ‘Final Word’, a ten-part series where the industry’s leaders share their thoughts and opinions on key issues around industry trends, business performance, investment solutions, regulations and compliance, and technology.

Industry Trends | What is the state of Asia’s talent pool and did your firm pay significantly higher for new talent? What is your view on private banking talent development in Asia?

It takes time to find and recruit the right talent in Asia, where there is definitely still a smaller talent pool compared to other more mature regions. However, this is and will continue to change over time.

Our strategy is to present ourselves as an attractive, top-tier place to work with material career opportunities so we can compete for the best possible talent in the region while not being too hasty by appointing those who may not be the right fit just to increase headcount.

We are very pleased with our progress on this front and have been able to attract impressive individuals to Lombard Odier in Asia. We also invest heavily in training and nurturing our existing talent so that we can retain and grow our team.

Investment Solutions | Though continued geopolitical uncertainty and volatility pose a challenge for DPM performance, will this ultimately prove to be a boon for the discretionary business, converting clients from trade to delegation? In these same market conditions, how critical will the alternatives business be for private banks in Asia moving forward?

Times of uncertainty and volatility make the proposition of DPM mandates even more attractive. Individual investors cannot be expected to deploy a full range of tools and never take their eye off their portfolio, particularly in such volatile times when a single tweet can move markets.

Our DPM portfolios remove this burden and are driven by a strong investment discipline not to let investment decisions be dictated by emotions, markets comments, and subjective views, but rather to stick to observable and measurable facts and systematically adapt the composition of portfolios accordingly. All of our DPM mandates are driven by this proprietary risk-based process, meaning we think of diversification in terms of risk proportions, not capital weights.

Focusing on DPM has been the core of our value proposition in Asia for many years. The advantages of this approach are reflected by the fact that DPM mandates now account for over 65% of our AUM in Asia and we expect this trend to continue amid increasingly unpredictable times.


Meet 2018’s industry leaders in the full round up of of Asian Private Banker‘s the Final Word 2018.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Join 10,000+ private bankers and wealth managers