FAIRBAIRN Private Bank has announced its strongest opening quarter for new business since the financial crisis began in 2008.
The bank says it has been led by several new multi-million pound client mandates and widened access to the business’s discretionary investment management services, through the inclusion of a new range of collective investment funds.
Greg Horton, managing director of Fairbairn Private Bank, said: ‘New business levels are certainly growing at a pace.
‘While one must always be careful about reading too much into short-term indicators, it is reassuring to see such vibrant new business levels continuing following the very strong growth in our headline earnings in 2011.
‘Further evidence of this growth lies in an ongoing year-on-year comparison around the level of assets on our award-winning integrated banking and investment platform, Focus.
‘These had showed an impressive year-on-year increase in the opening quarter of 2011, but they are up again by over 17 per cent year-on-year in the opening quarter of 2012.’
Total assets held on Focus, according to Mr Horton, have grown by over a third since the financial crisis commenced and now approach £1.75bn.
In addition to the consistent drive towards richer functionality and greater flexibility, Mr Horton also credits the business’s strong performance to his team.
Mr Horton said: ‘Throughout these difficult times the team have maintained their integrity and passion and never wavered from their commitment to do what is right for the client.
‘As wealth managers our clients require us to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns over the long term and our highly experienced private banking team work closely with our clients and professional intermediaries to deliver just that.
‘As bankers our clients require us to provide a secure home in which they can place their wealth – with no toxic assets or sovereign debt issues on our balance sheet, and a very strong parent company who can also boast the same, we can also deliver that requirement.’
It is certainly proving a winning formula as Mr Horton confirms that so far this year 87 per cent of new accounts opened resulted from client referrals.
He explained: ‘Being represented in five different geographic locations certainly presents its challenges in demanding times, but equally it provides a robust and stable platform for our clients and offers the business greater diversification of earnings.
‘For example in 2010 our UK operation posted the strongest total business growth rates, whereas in 2011 Jersey and Isle of Man took their place at the head of the field. It is particularly pleasing to see that while all these locations feature strongly in the opening quarter of 2012, that in line with this diversification, it is now the contribution from our South African colleagues that shows the most significant increase in this year’s opening quarter.
‘With our latest office in the Middle East having just opened in Dubai, we are looking forward to its growing contribution as the year unfolds and in support of the new Basel III regulations, we will be looking to deliver greater capital efficiencies later this year. This, together with the recent launch of our exciting range of wealth management solutions, will see us even more strongly positioned for growth as we enter 2013.’
While Mr Horton is not marking the end of the current long, drawn out financial crisis across the developed world, from the evidence of Fairbairn Private Bank’s own operations he is clearly feeling confident, and comments that he, together with his team, can look forward to an exciting future. He reiterates that it is the passion, commitment and, most of all, the integrity of his team that will continue to define their business operations.
This announcement from Fairbairn Private Bank follows a number of awards that the business has already achieved this year, including a top ranking within the UK’s Best Companies Accreditation and for the eighth consecutive year, a placing within the top 100 ranking of The Sunday Times Best Small Companies to Work For.