I write this on the sidelines of a cricket match where the action on the field is interesting but not enough to merit an entire column, or certainly not one that I am qualified to write.
Off-field, however, this could well be a masterclass on private banking – what it looks like done well and done poorly. I am here on the invitation of a private bank of course, and I try not to think of the thousands of pounds they have spent to have me here eavesdropping on their bankers and clients (2,500 pounds were being offered online for each of the two tickets I was very kindly sent complimentary).
On the offside debate of whether sponsorship of this kind provides any return on investment, I would have to say it most definitely does.
«I might have been the only outlier at these games that was not converted into a client»
Over the years, I have watched cricket at Deutsche Bank’s invitation; rugby at Goldman Sachs’; golf with UBS and Formula E racing with Julius Baer. Each time I have been distracted by the volume (using the word in both ways) of business conversations at the event – how swiftly they were conducted and concluded.
I might have been the only outlier at these games that was not converted into a client but that may be more because a career in journalism does not afford me the luxury of leaving $3 million in a deposit in return for a mortgage at 1.3 percent. The rest of the invitees have negotiated terms, fees, and payment schedules during drinks break. The conversations I am overhearing today prove the model works yet again.
«That would have been a long process»
«I am in London to look at a property in St. John’s Woods,» says one middle-aged Singaporean who says he is at the match on Bank Of Singapore’s invitation, although I do not verify this with the bank.
«I could have spoken to my guy [banker] about it when I am back in Singapore next week,» he agrees «but that would have been a long process. This morning, we discussed it right here since both he and his regional head were at the match. They offered me a few options and we agreed in principle on one, that’s a few days worth of work done in one morning.»
«All this over Champagne and some strawberries at the Centre Court»
«Wimbledon will be the backdrop for frenetic conversations with our Asian clients who are coming to the event as our guests,» says one managing director at a Swiss bank who deals predominantly with North Asian clients. «It’s more face to face time than we otherwise get with clients.»
Although he claims to never «initiate a conversation about business aside from general questions,» he says «clients almost always bring up something specific that they want priced». Over the years, he has advised an Indonesian next generation tycoon on monetizing assets, a Cantonese matriarch on her property portfolio in Stanley and various other Asian clients on everything from credit lines, structured products, and buying-to-flip real estate strategies. All this over Champagne and strawberries at Centre Court.
«Either Way, You Lose»
Are there any rules for entertaining clients at sporting events or is any topic fair game, I ask? «The cardinal rule is to never pick a side, if the client is supporting the same team he will think you are patronizing him and you come across as insincere and if you pick an opposite side you risk annoying him. Either way, you lose.»
