LGT acquires ABN Amro’s Asia wealth unit
(9 December 2016 – Asia) Lichtenstein private bank, LGT, has bought ABN Amro’s private banking business in Asia and the Middle East, further consolidating Asia’s volatile private banking market.
Owned by the Princely House of Lichtenstein, LGT expects to see its assets under management (AUM) in Asia rise to over US$40 billion (A$54 billion) as a result of the transaction, and US$160 billion overall.
In 2015, LGT had AUM in Asia of US$25 billion, and ABN Amro US$19 billion.
“This acquisition will allow us to further extend our market position and to achieve further profitable growth,” said Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, LGT’s chief executive.
The acquisition follows that of Australian bank ANZ’s sale of its wealth and retail units in Asia to DBS, while Swiss private bank Union Bancaire Privee acquired Coutts International from Royal Bank of Scotland in early 2015.
Some players in the region are looking to grow their wealth management units, to capture the Asia’s “emerging rich”. Julius Baer, Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas have all announced plans of increasing total head count in their respective units.
ABN Amro’s CEO Private Banking International, Jeroen Rijpkema, said in a statement that after a strategic review, the bank had decided to focus on further strengthening and growing its private banking activities in Northwest Europe.
“The transfer of our private banking business in Asia and the Middle East is the logical next step in implementing this strategy,” Rijpkema said.