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Loyal Big Producers

Over the last decade, Deutsche Bank stood out in wealth for its balance sheet and its strong product manufacturing capabilities. «We may be more selective on the product we offer,» Campelli acknowledges, «but the breadth of areas we will cover will remain unchanged.» He declined to detail specifics.

What about defections? None of the top-50 producers in wealth management have left the bank in the last three years, Campelli insists. He is eager to share credit with Lok Yim, the bank’s head of Asia and the Middle East.

Stability vs Turbulence

Most industry watchers would agree Yim is the linchpin for the bank’s strategy in the region. Many Deutsche clients are «tied in» due to long-dated structures and lending, according to one observer – and thus, bankers are reluctant to leave. «Wealth management headcount in 2019 has been very stable despite the newsflow,» Campelli notes.

The private bank [which Deutsche defines as asset management; retail business in Germany and Europe; and wealth management] is targeting 12 percent return on tangible equity by 2022. The private bank overseen by Campelli is aiming «higher than that,» he notes. «We were founded 150 years ago to cater to the needs of our corporate clients,» he notes.

«The strategy is to go back to those roots and anchor our business to corporate clients and their needs at work and at home,» Campelli says.

Open Architecture

But the cuts to its investment bank – the equities business in particular – must rankle clients, especially those in Asia who tend to make public equity the cornerstone of their investment portfolios.

«In Asia, the trend had already moved towards the professionalization of wealth management,» Campelli says. «[This] put us under pressure to move towards an open architecture model three years ago so clients are less impacted by the loss of the equity business than they would have been otherwise.»

According to the bank, the team that handles strategic equity transactions, which is very popular amongst wealth management clients especially for hedging purposes, has been retained within the investment banking arm.