A recent independent study, conducted by SIA Partners, named S-Net Mobile the best mobile banking application in Luxembourg. We took the opportunity to speak to Daniel Madariaga, Deputy Head of Business Innovation Office, and Christophe Medinger, Deputy Head of Digitalisation, at Spuerkeess, to find out more about how the teams in charge of S-Net achieved this success for the third year running.
Which solutions for managing your wealth?
Wealth management needs to meet numerous objectives and it can be complicated to strike the right balance between these goals and the enhancement of your wealth, especially without the assistance of experts. At Spuerkeess, we assess your specific needs and identify the investment solutions which suit you best. This article features the advice of Nicolas Carré, Team Manager of the “Investment and Portfolio Management” entity of the Business Unit Private Banking.
At Spuerkeess, our Private Banking customers are accompanied by experts with diverse skill sets who assess the specific needs of each customer and find the investment solutions that best respond to his needs.
When deciding on investment solutions, it is vital to be fully aware of the customer’s risk aversion, establishing what is commonly known as his “risk profile”.
Where the customer has very little time and/or insufficient financial knowledge for managing his investments himself, he is able to fully delegate management decisions to Spuerkeess. This takes the form of a discretionary management mandate in which the allocation of assets and management of risks depends on the pre-determined investor profile.
If the customer does have a certain level of financial knowledge and wants to keep control over his portfolio choices while calling on the assistance of professionals for advice on the investment possibilities consistent with his risk appetite, he can subscribe to one of our investment advice solutions.
Spuerkeess has two main investment advice solutions, Activinvest and Activinvest Plus.
Activinvest consists in guiding the customer according to his risk profile and the outlook of our investment strategy by building and optimising his portfolio exclusively through investment funds. The advisor dialogues on a regular basis with the customer to propose adjustments to the portfolio.
Given that our bank has opted for an open architecture, the optimal portfolio is composed of funds managed by Spuerkeess Asset Management teams and funds managed by external asset managers. This ensures the optimal diversification of investment possibilities while capitalising on the expertise of each asset manager. Third-party funds are subject to rigorous selection processes. ETFs are also regularly highlighted to cover needs for which active management is less relevant.
Activinvest Plus features the same components as Activinvest but has a considerably broader range of vehicles, the additional possibilities mainly including bonds, equities, thematic funds and extended investments in terms of currencies. The approach stays the same, but the solutions cover more needs and address more sophisticated customers interested in a more systematic dialogue and “all-in-one” pricing.
Regardless of the formula selected, portfolio optimisation is always achieved through our high-performance IT tool, developed internally and used, before any decisions are made, to visualise the various potential changes and their impact on the current portfolio. Spuerkeess also regularly monitors the customer’s portfolio. In the event of any deviation in terms of risk, the customer is contacted by his advisor to discuss the adjustments that need to be made.
Our recommendations in terms of investment advice are based primarily on the investment strategy established by our expert teams. However, some customers have their own specific ideas and want them to be reflected in their portfolios. To meet these needs, we are able to propose a fully bespoke advisory solution. On the customer’s request, we are able to integrate their personal specifications and adapt our recommendations in accordance with existing positions, carry out specific research, and proactively suggest adjustments and opportunities. Naturally, the customer’s risk appetite is respected at all times.
As the relationship with the customer evolves, Spuerkeess integrates past discussions, the customer’s preferences for a type of vehicle, and his reluctances and convictions, to build recommendations that become increasingly customised. As well as being fully bespoke, these recommendations are based on macroeconomic factors, qualitative research and mathematical elements.
As part of this service, investment advice is mainly provided by a two-person team consisting of a financial markets specialist and a relationship manager. The market expert, a member of the “Investment and Portfolio Management” team at Spuerkeess Private Banking, regularly suggests optimisations to the customer through a number of channels, including e-mail, telephone, videoconferencing, face-to-face meetings, or our S-Net platform.
In short, the customer has exclusive access to our experts, who are available at all times.