Asset management was turned from what used to be a problem child into a star performer within Credit Suisse’ wealth management division. Now it stands to grab much more of the attention than it used to at Wednesday’s investor day in London.
The asset management division didn’t get the label of problem child attached for nothing. In 2008, for instance, most of the funds business was divested to what is now known as Aberdeen Life.
Four years later, it was integration that counted: asset management was merged with private banking and put under co-leadership of Ulrich Meister and Robert Shafir.
The team didn’t last beyond the appointment of Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam in 2015. At asset management, Eric Varvel (pictured below) took over from Bob Jain, and he wasn’t shy of moving the chairs around again.
Pawn or Key Unit
Since then, a peculiar sense of calm has descended on the asset management unit. While Thiam didn’t leave many stones unturned at Switzerland’s second-largest bank, asset management thrived – and now the business has become part of a strategic bid that has been moved into the focus. Hence the question if asset management won’t take a bigger stage on December 11 in London than it used to.
At other big banks, asset management tends to be treated as an appendix that tends to become a pawn in merger talks. A prominent example is DWS, the funds business of Deutsche Bank, which has often been the subject of divestment rumors – not least in the discussions allegedly held between Deutsche Bank and UBS.
Outperforming Asset Management
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