Laurent Reiss has headed Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) in Monaco since 1 April 2015. He describes his career path and goals in a Group that has experienced remarkable growth in under 50 years.
You have managed UBP in Monaco for a year now. What was your career path?
I grew up in Geneva, where I went to HEC and then did a Masters in Finance on hedge funds at the University of Geneva. In 1997, I joined UBP Geneva, where I was a member of the private banking management staff. On 1 August 1998, after my transfer to New York, we set up the UBP Asset Management LLC branch to develop an alternative funds offering for the Group. I stayed there three years and then returned to Switzerland as Head of Alternative Investments Research for the Group, then Head of Alternative Investments Advisory. Finally, a year ago I was appointed head of UBP in Monaco.
How would you define UBP?
UBP has a very strong culture and character. It is an independent Swiss family bank, whose founder, Edgar de Picciotto, is its Chairman. The second generation now holds the key roles in the business. Since its establishment in 1969, the bank has focused exclusively on wealth management, serving private and institutional customers. It has grown steadily. The founding family shares our customers’ philosophy, namely capital preservation.
UBP is an entrepreneurial bank that evidences flexibility, ingenuity, proactiveness, performance and innovation.
It has a very clear investment culture and is characterised by advanced risk management.
The bank has developed rapidly, especially organically and through acquisitions. We are headquartered in Geneva but the bank is present in various other Swiss financial centres (Zurich, Basel, Lugano) and has 25 offices worldwide.
What are your ambitions for UBP Monaco?
I came to Monaco in April 2015, shortly after the Coutts & Co. Ltd acquisition was announced, and after the integration of Lloyds Banking Group’s international private banking a year earlier. With the acquisition of Lloyds, UBP set up in Monaco benefiting from quality business. The acquisition of Coutts’ international business became effective on 1 November 2015, marking a major step in UBP’s growth strategy.
It has enabled us to quickly achieve scale and real importance in the Monaco financial centre, and our current goal is to continue this growth. Monaco, by virtue of its very secure environment and highly regulated financial centre, is distinct from the rest of the world and remains very attractive. The profile of its residents has changed over around the last five years. Indeed, people moving to the Principality are increasingly coming with their families, to make Monaco their main residence. This is very much in our favour; with our expertise in wealth management and loans management (Lombard loans or mortgages), we support our customers in bold and interesting operations.
We also have a dedicated independent managers team that is destined to be developed.
To sum up, we offer our customers a personalised, flexible service, while paying particular attention to managing long-term performance.
