Rothschild's Laurent Gagnebin: «Strong Inflows in Asia This Year»

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What growth markets are you prioritizing in order to stanch the outflows? 

We recorded pleasing inflows in all our markets in the first months of this year, including our core onshore markets Switzerland, Germany, and Asia as well as international ones Mexico, Israel, and Spain and Portugal. 

You hired Henry Ho, a well-known banker, just over two years ago. How is your business in the region going?

Thanks to a slim structure, we're profitable in Asia and were able to strengthen our market position last year. We're seeing rising demand for our wealth management approach in Singapore in particular, and we are benefiting from the strong presence of our global advisory and trust business in the wider Rothschild and Co group.

What priorities are you setting, are clients in Asia different? 

Yes, there are differences to European clientele. We are concentrating on a very specific segment: wealth families and entrepreneurs who want to diversify part of their wealth to be managed in Europe. We're focused on finding the right structure for wealth and a long-term perspective. Asian clients appreciate the Rothschild brand and respond to what the family has achieved as entrepreneurs.

Do you have a target for the entire bank's assets under management?

We manage more than 30 billion Swiss francs ($31.7 billion) on our platform. Our goal is to keep boosting client assets. We're ambitious and we want to benefit from our good position in the market.

Laurent Gagnebin joined Rothschild Wealth Management Equitas, the Genevan arm of Zurich-based Rothschild, in 2011. Prior to that, the 41-year-old ran Investec Bank in Geneva. He got his start in finance at Goldman Sachs in Switzerland, after working in the luxury hospitality industry for several years following his education at the École hôtelière de Lausanne. He took over as head of Rothschild Bank in Switzerland in 2016.