Winners rationale

Julius Baer’s focus on developing holistic solutions for the Global Indian market, whether onshore or out of one of several offshore hubs, helped deliver a muscular business performance in this segment during 2021.

Many of those efforts over the last 12 months or so have been guided by Rahul Malhotra, who joined Julius Baer in mid-2021 to spearhead a strategy to capture more of the non-resident Indian (NRI) and onshore India wealth markets.

Malhotra’s priorities have been boosting the connections between the onshore and NRI businesses; sharpening Julius Baer’s focus on Indian family offices and up-and-coming technology entrepreneurs; and increasing the bank’s proposition across advisory, bespoke solutions and other products.

On many counts, the bank has succeeded in the aforementioned areas. Julius Baer in 2021 successfully solidified its position as the private bank of choice for wealthy Indian families, of which more than half have been a client of the lender for more than five years. Geographically, building out the Middle East offshore hub of Dubai has been a strategic priority for Malhotra and Julius Baer.

Among the initiatives that Julius Baer has implemented to take advantage of synergies between the onshore and NRI markets are a broadening of the bank’s suite of onshore products targeted at offshore Indian clients, such as providing access to third-party India-focused funds and foreign portfolio investor (FPI) registration. For wealthy investors onshore looking to access offshore markets, Julius Baer is helping clients to navigate cross-border complexities through efforts such as setting up a dedicated liberalised remittance scheme desk in both Singapore and Zurich.

All of those efforts paid off in the form of strong business performance across Julius Baer’s India-focused operations. In the period of performance reviewed by the judging panel, the bank’s AUM, net new money and revenue contribution from its NRI and onshore India businesses all grew at market-leading rates.

While the bank’s team of RMs serving the onshore India market may not be the largest for this client segment, it is one of the most experienced, with an average tenure of 13 years at Julius Baer. They are complemented by RMs serving the NRI market from offshore hubs such as Dubai, Singapore and Zurich.

For these reasons, Julius Baer has been named Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Global Indians for 2021.