Andbank, based in Monaco since 2011, is a relatively new financial institution in the financial centre. CEO Gérard Griseti, after a banking career in the Indosuez Group and in particular with CFM Monaco and then EFG Bank in Zurich, explains his Group’s ambitions.
Andbank: a private Group?
Andbank is a private family Group. It was the first bank in Andorra, established over 80 years ago. For three generations, the owners have been two families. The Group has enjoyed major expansion from 2011 to the present day: a rise of from 6 billion to 23 billion euro in managed assets through the combined action of its external and organic growth. The Group’s customer base is international and predominantly Spanish-speaking. The Group recently acquired Inversis, Spain’s no. 2 private banking player, making Inversis Andbank the country’s 2nd private bank. We also have a banking licence in Brazil, with the goal of becoming the country’s 2nd bank in 2017. In the Americas we are also present in Mexico, Uruguay and Miami. In Europe, besides Monaco and Andorra, the Andbank Group also has a banking licence in Luxemburg.
Why become Monaco-based?
International growth was an integral part of the Group’s strategy, and particularly in Monaco due to its great prestige. The purchase of Monte-Paschi in 2011 enabled us to expand our offering to the Group’s very high income customers. Out of a panel of 34 banks in Monaco we are now in the middle of the rankings, in accordance with the amount of our resources and jobs. Monaco is the ideal place to develop asset management, as our customers benefit from an exceptional quality of life and security. In addition, the financial centre is well regulated. So we can work in total confidence in a specific regulatory framework. That was a decisive factor for our shareholders.
Our Monegasque customer base has diversified: the Monte-Paschi customers were mainly Italians. Today, our customers reason with multiple jurisdictions. In many cases businesspeople aged from 40 to 50, our customers live part of their lives in Monaco and part elsewhere, and the bank supports their mobility.
You set up in Monaco relatively recently, how have you defined your positioning?
Andbank positions itself as a new player, with experienced professionals recruited locally in the financial centre or even abroad. What they have in common is a customer service obsession, tailor-made as we do spend a lot of time with our customers.
In recent years, the banking world has faced up to major changes which over time have become real challenges to be tackled. In this way the regulatory requirements, transparency rules, financial ratio levels and laws on intermediation could make the banks forget the very essence of their profession – which is supporting and advising their customers. We are using these changes to create new growth opportunities.
We have chosen to be a flexible but very complete structure of around fifty people, keeping local all services necessary for the Bank’s operation, with – in particular - a trading room. We enjoy an exceptional geographic location: 1000 m² in Monaco’s Carré d’Or district, so we are able to receive our customers very well.
Our product range is varied: life insurance, investments, property mortgages, assistance for setting up in Monaco, wealth planning support.
Could you clarify your strategy?
There has been a re-allocation of priorities as regards the Bank’s traditional key players. They need to focus their resources and reallocate them, which results in concentration of the number of private banking players.
This shift is an opportunity for a young Group like ours to seize. For the major groups, private banking is becoming too restrictive an activity, considering their natural trade of retail banking. But Andbank’s very essence is being dedicated to bespoke consulting, in full independence.
In other words, service provided to customers by a team of experienced, trained professionals, delivering a tailor-made service quality, with the key objective of protecting our customers’ wealth - that is what makes up our strategy.
Is your business model competitive?
Our financial performance shows that it is, as regards both the Bank’s profitability and our management of customers’ portfolios. Creating value is a necessity. As is having a global approach backed by new technology, such as online banking for example, and finally a true international offering.
Our size facilitates responsiveness. Our teams’ engagement and expertise enable us to deliver very responsive service quality, in line with high requirement criteria at all times.
What are your ambitions for the future?
We have our priorities in mind at all times and we put them into practice every day. For the coming years, in this context of evolution of our business, globalisation and ever-increasing demands, our Group’s development priorities will focus on continuous improvement in our service quality, based on two cornerstones - our human resources and our technology.
We will devote increasing resources to our various IT platforms to perfect our real-time addressing of customer needs. But we will also continue to make high demands on our employees, while listening to them and seeking talent and skills.
In Monaco, our ambition is to grow in a moderate and reasoned way; first and foremost we are professionals serving our customers, and we seek appropriate solutions while working closely with our customers.
For that, our key asset is the Monaco financial centre and will remain so; we promote it constantly within the Andbank Group and externally.
