The first report on the world of private banking in Italy will arrive at the end of 2015: a map of macroeconomic indicators and elements to photograph and frame the private banking sector in Italy by studying its most critical aspects such as portfolio management and the evolution of the services offered . The initiative starts from Liuc Cattaneo University and general bank, with the support also of Hsbc e Kairos, and aims to fill the data and analysis gap that exists today on this sector.
"Up to now there is no observatory on this world which instead gives a lot of information - he explained in the Milanese press conference presenting the Observatory Anna Gervasoni, professor of Economics and Business Management at Liuc – taking stock of this sector seemed to us something that could be used by both the academic and operational worlds. It is an evolving world that is growing and changing”.
2015, YEAR ZERO FOR PRIVATE BANKING
2015 will be a base year for the Observatory, it will be necessary to understand how to aggregate the information to have a basket of indicators. Starting from the search for one definition of private banking to be taken as a point of reference (and with the hope that it will be shared more and more to constitute a shared point on which to start sharing information).
In fact, it is still a very fluid sector, which is approached differently by operators both in quantitative and operational terms. In other words, different thresholds are used for customer segmentation (the most common are 500 thousand or 1 million euro) and the organizational approaches are different (some people, for example, simply place it as a division within a sector or others as a service additional advice). This makes it very difficult to find data, especially data that are homogeneous and comparable.
In Italy the panorama is certainly different from the international one. “Foreign private banking models are very different from ours – he explained Robert Citarella, managing director for the Italian branch of HSBC Global asset management – in Italy they are children of the high yields of government bonds and real estate, phenomena that are different abroad. In Italy, therefore, private banking has a different risk profile and characteristics”.
The monitoring and study activities of the Observatory will take place both through the re-elaboration of third-party data and by making use of qualitative and quantitative information possibly collected ad hoc, according to the specific lines of research addressed.
THE ACTIVITIES' OF THE NEW OBSERVATORY
"For many years, private banking in Italy has not paid much attention to the offer and services of customers - said Piermario Motta, CEO of Banca Generali - but it is a huge segment, it is necessary to be able to give answers and the Observatory can give great help to the sector that lacks reference data”. In detail, the research activity, carried out by Professor Gervasoni and Professor Francesco Bollazzi, has two main objectives:
- map, periodically update and evaluate the evolution of a "set" of macroeconomic and microeconomic indicators and elements, to allow the private banking sector to be framed within the more general economic context and investigate some critical aspects of the market such as, for example, the topic of portfolio management and the evolution of the services offered.
- create a proprietary index capable of determining the trend and overall performance of the market, constituting a valid and immediate analysis tool.
“One of the objectives of the Observatory – added Gervasoni – is to analyze possible convergences also through the study of international models and to propose useful interpretations and analysis keys which can help insiders and the market to better understand the most recent trends in the sector". As part of these activities, the Observatory will therefore annually focus its attention on individual issues such as the evolution of the bank's service and business model, the international comparison with other systems, the relationship between bank and entrepreneur and the criticality of the transition generational. “Valuing savings – added Motta – is an unavoidable priority for Italian families in a context of low rates and critical economic conditions. The redefinition of the business model of commercial banks places the paradigm of financial consultancy at the center of the scene, which has already been a protagonist for several years in the more mature markets in terms of pension and investment challenges".
THE PRIVATE BANKING HUB
A scientific committee has also been created, with the function of a think tank, in which the project partners will be involved including, in addition to the professors who follow the Observatory, Michele Seghizzi (external communication manager of Banca Generali), Antonio Bucci (head strategic planning of Banca Generali), Patrizia Gravaghi (Head of Human Resources Development and Management of Banca Generali), Roberto Citarella (Managing Director, HSBC Global Asset Management, Italian branch).
The objective of the scientific committee is to ensure a strong link between the world of research and the professional world, above all in line with the evolution of the sector's critical issues.
The Observatory's aggregating point will be the site which, in its intentions, will become a small private banking hub that collects the research developed by the Observatory and other information on the world of private banking.
