1. AWARDS
asian private banker 61
Best Private Bank –
Family Office Services
Credit Suisse
N
ot quite institutional clients or ultra high net worth,
the family office clientele demand very specific skills
from their private banks. Often, these clients are still in
the process of articulating their raison d’etre, and the
alliance between family offices and their service providers evolves
with it, recasting what family office clients value in the service of a
private bank almost on an annual basis. While some family offices
rank their providers by execution capability and pricing flexibility,
others value access to private deals and sophisticated structuring
capability.
Whichever the case, it is every bank’s ambition to be elevated
from being a service provider to the family office, to being its
trusted advisers and most influential gatekeepers. One bank has
made this transition and very successfully cemented its position
as the adviser of choice to Asia’s most sophisticated as well as new
emerging family offices. Credit Suisse has proven itself as the pri-
vate bank of choice for Asia’s wealthiest families.
The experience of its family office team is the key differentia-
tor of the bank’s family office platform. Bernard Fung, the bank’s
Head of Family Office Services and Philanthropy Advisory, Asia
Pacific, spent several years as the Chief Executive of Innotech
Advisors, the single family office and investment vehicle of Lord
Sainsbury of Turville. Having been a client himself, Fung is able
to tailor the bank’s family office service offering so that it is both
relevant to, and adds value for, its clients.
The resultant kinship with clients has resulted in a rare align-
ment of goals between principal and provider, with the bank even
acting as a mentor to several single family offices.
Transcending the industry practice of attracting and retaining
family office clients by offering competitive prices on execution,
Credit Suisse has taken a thoughtful approach to this pioneering
role, and contributed to the family office ecosystem consistently
and meaningfully.
Over the years, this contribution has taken varied forms. From
its much lauded Family Office Hub in Singapore, to hosting innu-
merable industry fora that foster dialogue rather than deals, to
investing in building a platform and capabilities well before they
are needed by the industry.
For all these and more, Credit Suisse, which has now won this
accolade for four of the five years since the awards were inaugu-
rated, is the deserved winner of the Asian Private Banker 2015
Best Private Bank – Family Office Services Award.
Bernard Fung, Head, Family Office Services and
Philanthropy Advisory Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse