As a business, Lombard Odier applies the same family principles upon which the Swiss private bank was founded more than 222 years ago, Lee Wong, Head of Family Services in Asia Pacific, explains.
Swiss private bank Lombard Odier has been driven by a «Rethink Everything» philosophy, allowing it to grow and protect its clients’ wealth over 222 years, not only globally but in Asia. The bank first set up an office in Hong Kong in 1987 to have a presence in an area of the world that even then, was of interest to our international clientele, who wanted to invest their wealth in the region.
Today Lombard Odier has a strong team of bankers and a solid set of partners around the region who are leaders in wealth management which also encompasses family services.
Thinking Through Holistic Needs
«Family services is not something that we sell but an advisory service which we offer to our clients to add value to the total relationship,» Lee Wong, Head of Family Services, Asia Pacific at Lombard Odier says. «Our focus in this area is helping clients to think through their holistic needs and to advise on matters relating to inter-generational succession planning, family governance and philanthropy.»
Lee Wong has been in this business for many years. She joined Lombard Odier from another private bank where she was head of wealth planning in South Asia and led the team advising high net worth clients regarding their family wealth needs.
Sensitive Topics
Lombard Odier’s relationship managers and family services specialists are here to accompany clients who want to put aside their rainy days liquid assets with a very strong professional private bank, which is independent, which will act in the interests of the clients and which will tailor wealth management solutions according to their needs.
«Many firms in Asia and beyond have failed to survive beyond the third generation – often times due to an inability, or unwillingness, to discuss sensitive topics and incorporate the mechanisms needed within family structures to withstand the test of time and external pressures,» Lee Wong outlines the risks and realities of family business.
Focusing on Three Areas
This is where Lombard Odier with its centuries-old tradition and experience is stepping in. «It helps us a lot that the bank’s own wealth management business is run by sixth and seventh generation members of the firm’s founding families. There are three areas on which Lombard Odier focuses its family services activity:
- Wealth Planning: Succession planning, mobility planning, asset protection, structuring family business ownership succession, tax optimization, structuring giving vehicle, and facilitating regulatory compliance
- Family Governance: Facilitating family discussion forums, building family governance framework, and providing guidance in crafting of family charters.
- Philanthropy: Formulating parameters of philanthropic objectives, crafting of philanthropic roadmap, and building philanthropic governance framework for impact assessment
«We use trusted parties in Asia to implement, thereby ensuring the independence of our counsel,» Lee Wong adds. What also makes Lombard Odier different is challenging the status quo and traditional ways of managing wealth and looking through investments through a safe prism of risk allocation.
Lombard Odier certainly has strong values after 222 years of existence. The way the bank manages money defines its style. As a business, the firm applies the same family principles upon which Lombard Odier was founded. «We are here to support Asian families by safeguarding their interests, helping to grow their assets and to pass them onto the next generation,» says Vincent Magnenat (pictured above), Limited Partner and CEO in Asia of the Lombard Odier Group.
«What is also very encouraging for us is that every time we start to engage with clients, and we explain who we are and our values, we see great interest coming from them,» Lee Wong adds.
