Lawyers – the better private bankers?
Lawyers are becoming what private bankers long to be. In short, they are the closest advisers to the super-rich. Never before has so much wealth sat in so few hands. Entrepreneurs, heirs and billionaires are now the prize for Swiss private banks and asset managers. After all, the easy days of earning money on undeclared money are over. This demanding clientele wants a special skill set. It ranges from simple empathy to deep expertise in international tax, trust, foundation, estate and inheritance law.
Interdisciplinary experts versus the client adviser
This concentration of wealth has created a more complex model. As a result, private banks must drop their old, product-centric habits. Instead, they need interdisciplinary teams with real expertise. Yet this creates a dilemma. The wealthier the client, the less often a private banker actually meets them.
The lawyer as first port of call
Usually a gatekeeper stands in the way. Often it is a whole squad. It may be the CEO or the finance head of a family office. Increasingly, however, that person is a lawyer. He or she is often the first contact for an ultra-high-net-worth client, from 50 million dollars upward. The private banker comes later.
It is certainly the case that law firms are considerably closer to clients than bankers.
Ariel Sergio Goekmen-Davidoff, to finews.com
Goekmen-Davidoff knows both sides. He once sat in the top management of Schroders & Co Bank. Later, he served as CEO of Kaiser Partner, a Liechtenstein boutique for ultra-wealthy clients and family offices. Recently, he joined Lindemann in Zurich, as a lawyer. That gives him a head start. As he puts it, clients first want to discuss the legal side of their finances. (Source: finews.com)
Finews
