Winners rationale

Traditionally, domestic incumbents have dominated Japan’s private banking scene due to their locally-skewed capabilities and deep penetration of domestic HNWIs. However, in 2018, Credit Suisse demonstrated just how effective its differentiated proposition is in terms of addressing clients’ local and global needs in one of Asia’s oldest wealth markets.

In addition to accessing the bank’s robust and comprehensive product platform to leverage global product due diligence and research capabilities, Credit Suisse imported its integrated banking model to Japan to cater to the business needs of its Japanese clients, in line with its commitment to being the region’s “trusted entrepreneurs’ bank”. In the process, Credit Suisse notched up a number of ‘one bank’ successes, include the delivery of a diversified range of large deals spanning share-backed loans, IPOs, equity block trades, and M&A.

Unlike local players, Credit Suisse Private Banking is able to conduct both banking and securities businesses. And while clients of local institutions are required to switch relationship managers every few years, foreign financial institutions are exempt from the rule, allowing truly long-term and potentially multi-generational relationships to be built — a critical element in light of 2017 revisions to Japan’s inheritance tax which was marked up to 55% of global assets. Further, the private bank’s Japan clients enjoy access to Credit Suisse’s international booking centres in Zurich, Singapore, and Hong Kong, providing increased opportunities for diversification beyond the country’s borders.

Accordingly, the bank delivered impressively robust growth figures in a trying year for markets, including double-digit year-on-year increase in NNA, attributable to the bank’s strong UHNW focus. Indeed, 28 out of the Forbes 50 Japan Billionaires are clients of the bank, including two who were onboarded in 2018.

Through its three dedicated private banking offices in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, Credit Suisse successfully leveraged the scale of its multinational operations and the experience of its 100-strong frontline staff in Japan to take another large step towards becoming the best private bank in APAC’s most advanced economy for years to come.

Credit Suisse is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Japan for 2018.