BNP Paribas Wealth Management bids for bigger slice of entrepreneurial pie

France’s BNP Paribas is becoming “more open” to the needs of entrepreneurial and family clients, according to Pierre Ramadier, the veteran banker charged with expanding this segment. Of the €422bn ($459bn) in assets overseen by BNP Paribas Wealth Management, 40 per cent falls under the stewardship of his 300-strong team, operating in 17 countries.

Visiting London to cast his eye over opportunities for a wealthy Hong Kong Chinese client, Mr Ramadier waxes lyrical, over a frugal West End breakfast, about the need to combine real estate deals with investment banking and wealth management activities.

“I visited three off-market buildings yesterday,” he reports, with the decision made to opt for a mixed-use development in the City’s financial district, where retail tenants rub shoulders with commercial offices. “This is just the type of real estate deal we like, to help clients diversify their wealth.”

Entrance point

Until recently, Mr Ramadier was head of wealth management at the US subsidiary of BNP Paribas, Bank of the West, before its sale to Bank of Montreal. Now he relishes the new challenge of bringing together different strands of expertise for clients using his wealth unit as an “entrance point” to the bank.

“This is not an easy organisation in which to position investment banking, with asset management and wealth management,” he admits. “Everyone in the market is looking for the best structure for expansion, whether that is the integrated model, joint venture between investment and private banking or separate existence of different units, but they are not always successful.”

He is tasked with expanding the integrated model through a ‘one bank’ approach, which has attracted controversy at rival players, but forms “part of our deep DNA and represents the best way to bring value to our clients,” he insists.

“There are more referrals now from wealth management to CIB [corporate and investment banking] than ever before,” he says with more than a hint of professional pride. “The major value of our operation is that we talk daily to ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) of the business. While CIB works more with chief financial officers, we deal personally with major shareholders.”

Through this connection, he hopes to boost mandates for M&A, private placement and equity derivative financing. BNP Paribas Wealth Management enjoys a 35 per cent penetration of European billionaires and 20 per cent in Asia, but Mr Ramadier plans to further intensify key client relationships. “You can be in a very good position with a client, but they may have five or six other banks,” he says. “Our goal is to be the preferred partner for entrepreneurs, with a long-term relationship spanning three to four generations.”

His newly created taskforce promises to better target this entrepreneurial client base through “a more structured and industrial approach with CIB and other group business lines”.

This involves building Next Gen training programmes in Paris and Hong Kong to educate purpose-driven, younger investors on private equity and sustainable investment strategies. “Even before Covid, 30 per cent of our entrepreneurs thought they could achieve performance, with sustainable investments,” he says. “After Covid, 60 per cent are willing to consider these solutions.”

Sense of urgency

Clients in Germany feel particularly affected by environmental considerations around energy supply, hugely restricted after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “They are so close to the Polish border and to Ukraine and Russia, so they feel a higher sense of emergency on these topics,” he says, bringing in his previous experience as head of ‘New Domestic Markets’, which involved visiting Poland and Ukraine, as well as Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.

“This dramatically accelerates discussions on energy transition, which presents a huge opportunity for the bank. The crisis will bring new awareness of renewable energy and is likely to trigger a mindset shift.”

Rampant inflation, accelerated by energy market changes and the blocking of Ukraine’s grain-exporting ports, is also becoming an issue. “We have yet to see any panic sales or major re-allocation to new assets. But people want to understand what kind of changes inflation will bring. Previously they merely expected a post-Covid inflation bottleneck,” he says.

This is changing after the start of the war in Ukraine. “Our clients have not yet moved into post-inflationary mode,” says Mr Ramadier, whose team is ready to share its expertise in high yield bonds and real estate in particular. “But I believe that diversification is key and we will support our clients towards this objective.”