The wealth management arm of Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) is the country's first private banking service provided by a local bank.

Hanoi-based Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB) has officially launched MB Private – a wealth management arm targeting high net worth individuals, with the shared guidance of Swiss private bank Bordier Singapore (Bordier), Bordier announced in a press release.

The unit aims to provide a wide range of solutions including corporate banking, investments, insurance and credit solutions, inheritance and estate planning as well as bespoke lifestyle services, and taps on Bordier's global network of solution providers, the statement said. MB marked the occasion with the opening of the MB Private Banking Center in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday.

«Although services such as asset management or investment advisory have existed for a long time in Vietnam, anchoring and delivering a holistic solution like private banking is still a challenge that has not been solved for domestic financial institutions,» said Luu Trung Thai, CEO of MB, about the bank's motivation to collaborate with Bordier.

Strategic Cooperation a «Natural Route»

MB has been working with Bordier since the signing of an agreement to collaborate in wealth management in 2018.

At the Vietnam Wealth Management Forum 2019, Pearl Pillaert, director, New Markets, said that strategic cooperation is a natural route for Bordier as it is too small to compete with the larger players, but ideally suited to support the expansion into wealth management of local banks and institutions in the region.

Bordier & Cie, a boutique private bank managed and owned by the Bordier family's fifth generation, has a presence in 11 cities, including Singapore, its base for the region.