Macquarie to merge private bank, private wealth units
Macquarie Group has announced it would merge its private bank and private wealth businesses as it concentrates its growth strategy on high net worth clients.
Macquarie said it sees “significant opportunities” for growth in the high net worth segment, which is the exclusive focus of the private bank and comprises a substantial proportion of Macquarie’s private wealth business.
The group’s Banking and Financial Services (BFS) division said the move would not change its strategy to grow its retail banking activities through offering home lending, deposit and credit card solutions for all consumers.
“Focusing on attracting high net-worth clients is a logical evolution of our private client business and we believe it is a space in which we can be a market leader,” said Macquarie’s head of wealth management, Bill Marynissen.
“We have carefully assessed growth opportunities in the high net-worth segment against the strong fundamentals of our business. These include a deep understanding of the high net-worth segment, our wealth and banking expertise and suite of solutions, and the capacity to build on our existing digital capabilities.”
Redundancies are expected as a result of the merger, with Macquarie stating that a number of advisers would be impacted. Macquarie said it would support these advisers in a number of ways, including by facilitating discussions with other firms and assisting with their transition.
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