The newly appointed global head of the bank’s wealth management business, Francesco De Ferrari, told a Brazilian newspaper about his big plans in the country and talked about his first months in the job.
Within Credit Suisse’s $1.5 trillion asset-heavy wealth management arm, «Brazil is strategically important,» which is why it plans to double its market share there in the next five years, the bank’s head of international wealth management, Francesco De Ferrari, said in a recent interview «Valor Economico» (behind a paywall, Portuguese only).
Emphasizing the bank's 60-year-long presence in the country, comprising wealth management and investment banking and almost 1000 employees, De Ferrari said he expected the average wealth pool in Brazil to rise by more than 10 percent in the next five years.
«Our goal is to double business in Brazil in the next three to five years, which means we will need to grow faster than the market.(...) last year our business with customers grew by about 15percent. We are investing in the country because we absolutely believe in the potential,» he told «Valor Economico.»
Credit Suisse's Culture
Since starting his role this year, De Ferrari has set up the structure, selected his team, and is now starting to travel to all the major markets to learn about the business in each region and «to make sure that the teams in the field understand the strategy» and the bank's direction, he said.
The bank’s quality lies in its «culture,» which he defined as a «unique blend of a traditional Swiss wealth management company with a taste of investment banking, two areas mixed as equals in the same company.»
Wealth was being produced in emerging markets, where it was being driven by entrepreneurs, who were keeping their companies private for longer, he said.
While clients in Asia were concerned about how China’s economy would develop and how the country would deal with aggressive blockades (due to covid-19), the war in Ukraine and its resulting consequences, such as the humanitarian crisis and its energy dependence on Russia, were at the forefront of people’s minds in Europe, he said.
Although commodity-specialized countries and regions, such as Brazil and the Middle East, were benefiting from rising prices, globally there were concerns around« how much inflation would come in energy and food,» and its effects on supply chains, he said.
Blockchain Over Crypto
On crypto investments, De Ferrari spoke in favor of backing projects related to blockchain technology rather than the bank positioning itself in «an asset class which does not have a fundamental evaluation.» The technology could help democratize wealth by making private equity - for example - accessible to a wider clientele, he said.
Previously De Ferrari headed Credit Suisse's wealth management business among other roles held at the bank between 2002 and 2018. After a stint as CEO of Australian financial services conglomerate AMP, he returned in January at CEO Thomas Gottstein’s request to build a global wealth management franchise.
