This article was published today on LinkedIn by Matthias Hunn, founder of FinGuide. Imagine you are a Swiss private banking client, but somehow your bank doesn’t really excite you. The advisors change frequently. When you read about your bank in the press, it’s usually negative. The performance doesn’t convince either … in short, you think it can and should be managed better. What now?
The first place to go these days is, of course, Google. If you enter “find private bank” or similar search terms there you will see the pages of those private banks that either spend money on AdWords or have optimized their site well. The websites contain nice sounding promotional texts about how great the banks are. Not very helpful, because they can be bought. Of course, everyone on the web wants to present themselves in the most favorable way. The most useful information you can find are the annual Bilanz tests. They tell you which providers a jury has rated best for a particular customer with particular needs. That’s all very well. But do they have the same needs as you?
Perhaps you have already heard one or two names and think that this bank or that wealth manager could be interesting. So, you go to the websites of these providers and search for the information that is relevant to you: How much do the services cost? What exactly do I get there as a customer? Do they offer tax advice or are they familiar with trusts? How has their performance been in recent years? Unfortunately, you won’t find these inforamtion. Apart from plenty of well-formulated generalities about how incredibly future-oriented, innovative and long-term thinking they are and that the client is at the centre of everything they do.
So, if the internet doesn’t help you find a private bank or wealth manager, you could ask around. But who? It would be rather embarrassing to ask a colleague from the service club about his private bank when he is perhaps much tighter financially than he would like to admit. When it comes to personal finances, we still like to surround ourselves with a wall of silence that could give the Great Wall of China a run for its money.
Well then, perhaps there are no dissatisfied private banking customers and the aforementioned dissatisfaction is just an imagination? There are not many studies on this topic, but the existing ones clearly show that there are dissatisfied private banking clients. According to the LGT Private Banking Report 2016, 83% of Swiss private banking clients are satisfied or very satisfied with their provider. This means that around one in six clients is not satisfied. According to another study (which is not publicly available), around 5% of Swiss millionaires are very dissatisfied with their bank or wealth manager.
The willingness of dissatisfied clients to switch banks is low. When you talk to dissatisfied clients, you usually hear the same thing: Where should I switch to? Aren’t they all the same anyway? Go through all the hassle of switching so that I can be looked after by a promising young banker who will be promoted in 3 years because he is so good? No thanks.
Does this all sound familiar to you? Then take a look at www.finguide.ch. FinGuide AG is here to help dissatisfied private banking clients find the right investment partner. You can enter your requirements online in a structured way and then find out – by telephone or in person – which provider best meets your individual requirements. FinGuide works with selected banks and wealth managers that provide top performances. FinGuide’s database records the detailed services of these providers, including performance figures and costs. FinGuide AG receives commissions from these partners for the introduction of clients, which is why the service can be offered free of charge. Absolute neutrality of the advice is nevertheless guaranteed, as the commissions are exactly the same for all partners.
FinGuide AG is a start-up company that wants to shake up Swiss private banking. Until now, clients were acquired as private banking clients and the acquiring provider made every effort to meet their needs. Now there is a new way: customers take control themselves and, with the help of FinGuide, find the financial partner that best suits their needs. FinGuide is available free of charge to clients with available assets of at least CHF 500,000.
