Winners rationale

The beauty of a pure private banking model lies in the ability to provide clients with the best of a wealth manager’s strengths and in the alignment of client and bank interests.
Founded in 1805 in Geneva, Pictet has always run with an independent private partnership model and has only had 45 partners since then, each with average tenure of over 20 years. The long tenure and low turnover rate has guaranteed the stability of its management — the secret recipe for cross-generational success in wealth management, having been through wars, political upheavals and economic crises.

The absence of external stakeholders and the insistence on seeking pure organic growth has guaranteed that the purpose of the bank has remained unchanged over the years — which is to build responsible partnerships with clients, colleagues, communities and the companies in which the bank invests.

In 2020, as part of its Ambition 2025, Pictet identified The Rise of Asia as one of the seven global themes, that will have major implications for investors, clients and the financial industry. Pictet sees Asia both as a strategic asset class attracting a greater portion of international investment and as a region for the bank’s business expansion.

Despite the economic uncertainties brought by the pandemic in Asia, Pictet achieved steady growth with record highs across multiple key business metrics in 2021: an over 30% YoY increase in AUM (as of September 2021 annualised) and a similar rise in net new money (NNM) inflows, strong double-digit expansion in revenue with a tilt towards developing recurring income, and a mid-single digit growth in the number of client accounts, despite the difficulties in conducting physical meetings. Such business performance tops the chart for pure plays and ranks amongst the best for all private banks operating in Asia in the said year.

The ability to ride the tides stems from Pictet’s focus on being an investment-led service company with an industry high of over 50% of its Asian wealth management AUM in managed solutions across mandates and funds, as well as having leading alternative advisory capabilities — the firm also has one of the highest alternative assets penetration rates of private banks in Asia.

The firm’s investment advisory team combines in-house expertise and open architecture to achieve the best outcomes for clients who are able to access products, services and strategies through discretionary or advisory mandates.

On the back of its heritage of being a trusted private bank for over two centuries, Pictet managed to shine in an era of uncertainty, bringing its investments and intergenerational wealth management expertise to wealthy families in Asia and delivering a record year in 2021.

Pictet is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Pure Play for 2021.