With the acquisition of DIFC-based international wealth and asset management company One swiss private wealth, Geneva-headquartered One swiss bank has entered the UAE market, with plans for regional growth.
Switzerland and Dubai have a lot of similarities and so the acquisition was a “no-brainer,” Xavier Clavel, board member of One swiss private wealth and member of the executive committee of One swiss bank.
“If you look at the history of One swiss bank, we basically grew by acquisition over the years so it’s not something new for us. The acquisition of One swiss private wealth was a no brainer for us for a couple of reasons,” he said.
“The first one is that if you look at Switzerland, and if you look at Dubai, you actually see a lot of similarities, in terms of the solidity, security, professionalism etc. as a financial centres, both Switzerland and Dubai have a lot of common points.
Given that we have a large book of clients based in the region, having acquired One swiss private wealth brings us closer to our clients,” he continued.
“If you combine that with the fact that Dubai, as a financial hub, is one of the places to be, then I think you’ve got the three reasons why we made that acquisition,” added Clavel.
Having worked in the UAE’s financial sector for the past thirty years, CEO of One swiss private wealth Zafar Khan has witnessed Dubai’s transformation to a “financial hub, not only for this region but for the MENASA region too.”
“Every day, you see so many high net worth individuals moving their families from all over the world and settling down in Dubai. We have excellent infrastructure, one of the best securities, the best education system, and the best healthcare so families feel they are getting the best of both worlds by settling and doing business here, especially in the financial sector,” said Khan.
“And at the same time, Dubai as a whole is offering a lot of opportunities on the investment side as well and we have seen that in the past five years, despite Covid-19. We also see that Expo was a very successful event that happened Dubai,” he continued.
“The financial side of things were a little impacted because of coronavirus initially, but we have seen growth coming back in the past two years and people are becoming more active. You can see that by looking at the public offerings being offered in Abu Dhabi and now in Dubai, with DEWA being the most successful IPO in the history of the region, raising almost $95 billion in subscription – and there are a lot more in the pipeline” added Khan.
With $5 billion of assets under management, One swiss bank plans to use its Dubai office to fuel its growth in the region, said Clavel.
“Our strategy is basically to continue investing in the region and we will do that pragmatically and opportunistically. A couple of weeks ago, we had another relationship manager joining the entity and as opportunities arise, we will continue to grow the entity. So we are well established with a clear structure and an entity which works well and we are here to stay,” said Clavel.
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