Swiss bank Reyl with a strong presence in Singapore launched a digital platform for mass affluent clients. The firm won outside funding for the push.
Reyl is starting Alpian, an online platform for the affluent, widely viewed as those with less than $1 million. The Genevan wealth manager said it estimates 2.6 million potential clients in Switzerland with 660 billion Swiss francs ($680 billion) in assets to bank.
The bank said it intends to combine qualities of traditional wealth management – trust, access to capital, industry expertise – with the disruptive, entrepreneurial mind-set of a digital start-up. Alpian applied for its own Swiss banking license recently and wants to be market-ready by the first quarter of 2021, pending regulatory approval.
Super-Rich vs Merely Affluent
Alpian raised 12.2 million francs in January, mainly from financial and technology investors, Reyl said. CEO Francois Reyl said he believes Alpian «will provide mass-affluent clients with a far superior level of service and greater flexibility than currently exists on the market.»
Many Swiss wealth managers have shifted in recent years to focus heavily on the super-rich – often at the expense of the affluent segment. UBS sifted its affluent Europeans into a digital-focused service last year.
Credit Suisse and Vontobel, however, are expanding the lucrative segment. For Reyl, the move represents a further honing of strategy after it sold its asset management unit and began devoting itself more intensely to digital initiatives.
