Jersey private
bank operation
underway for
Israel’s BHI
Bank Hapoalim International
(BHI), an arm of
Israel’s largest banking
group, has launched a
private banking operation
in Jersey.
The new bank, BHI
Jersey, will cater for a
range of client categories
including UK resident,
non-domiciled individuals
and others who prefer to
deal with a Jersey-based
private bank, a BHI spokeswoman
said.
Hapoalim has operated
a trust company in St Helier
since 1997 through a Swissbased
subsidiary.
Miki Nachmani, chief
executive of BHI Jersey,
said the bank will offer
customers “a bespoke taxefficient
solution for their
assets”.
Services will include traditional
wealth management
products and alternative
investment products
aimed at taking advantage
of current market conditions,
according to Nachmani,
who comes to Jersey
from Tel Aviv, where she
was part of Hapoalim’s
International Private Banking
division.
The bank will also
offer access to trust and
fiduciary services and tailored
credit facilities.
Scarborough and Skipton’s
Guernsey businesses merge
by helen burggraf
Following the announcement
that Skipton Building
Society and Scarborough
Building Society are to
merge in the UK, the
respective building societies’
Guernsey-based operations
have announced
they will do likewise.
In unveiling their merger
plans, Skipton Guernsey
and Scarborough Channel
Islands said existing customers
of both entities
“will be offered similar or
better terms” on their current
savings and mortgage
accounts.
The newly-combined
entity will be known as
Skipton Guernsey. No compulsory
redundancies are
Britannia Int’l in new issue of guaranteed capital bond
by Daniel JuDge
Britannia International, the
offshore subsidiary of
Britannia Building Society,
has launched a new issue
in its Guaranteed Capital
Bond series.
The closing date for
Britannia’s Five-Year
Guaranteed Capital Bond
Issue 7 is 16 Jan, although
the product may be withdrawn
from sale early if it
becomes fully subscribed.
The minimum investment
is £10,000 for new
investors and £5,000 for
existing Britannia International
customers.
The five-year option will
pay a fixed return of 35%
gross, or 6.19% AER, if the
FTSE 100 Index is equal to
or greater than the start
value over the investment
term, subject to averaging
over the final 12 months.
“In the current climate
this straightforward account,
with no risk to savers’ initial
capital, should prove very
appealing,” said managing
director, Mark Beresford.
bougourd: customers to benefit
expected to result from the
merger, the firms said.
The merger will take
place in 2009, subject to
regulatory approval. Until
then, customers of each
organisation should continue
to use their respective
offices. The merger in the
UK is being carried out
according to the terms of
Abbey Int’l launches capital guaranteed account
Jersey-based Abbey International
has launched a
new multi-currency capital
guaranteed account that is
split equally between a
basket of four leading
global stock indices and
guaranteed fixed income.
Available in a choice of
sterling, euro or dollars
versions, the minimum
opening investment in the
account is £20,000, or the
euro or dollar equivalent.
A special bonus interest
rate of the UK base rate
plus 0.5% will be paid on
all investments made up
until the start date of the
account on 5 Dec, 2008,
with interest added to the
original capital investment.
The new Capital Guaranteed
World Basket Income
and Growth Account links
half of a client’s investment
to the average growth
across a weighted basket
FTSE 100 – 5-year performance
% 30
60
50
40
20
10
0
Nov ’03 Nov ’04
Source: Lipper
december 2008 [www.international-adviser.com] INTerNATIONAL AdVISer 15
Nov ’05
the UK Building Societies
Act, so there is no need
for UK-based members of
either Society to vote on
the matter, as the respective
group boards are authorised
to take such decisions.
The merger came about
after Scarborough encountered
what it called “difficult
trading conditions”
that weakened its capital
position.
Skipton Guernsey
managing director, Alan
Bougourd, said the merger
was good news for customers
of both building
societies. He noted that
the merger meant Skipton
Guernsey’s parent, Skipton
Building Society, will
become the UK’s fifth largest
building society.
consisting of the FTSE 100,
DJ Euro Stoxx 50, S&P 500
and Nikkei 225, Abbey
International said. It added
that the balance is invested
in a fixed-deposit account
to generate income.
Annual income levels
for the cash segment of the
product are 7.5% gross/
AER on sterling deposits,
6.% gross AER on euro
deposits, and 5% gross/
AER on dollar deposits.
Nov ’06
Nov ’07
Nov ’08
BANK NEWS
Mercer unveils
new adviser
training unit
in Singapore
Mercer has launched a
wealth management service
in Singapore, providing
investment consulting
research tools and adviser
training to private banks.
The company, which
principally provides investment
consulting and
research services to institutions
such as pension
funds, said a dedicated private
banking unit had been
created to service the
Singapore market.
It will work with research
teams in private banks and
allow them to tap into its
institutional investment
research, and banks will
each have their own dedicated
Mercer consultant.
The advice will include
guidance on asset allocation,
fund selection, blending
and monitoring. There
will also be content on
specialist services such as
advice on governance
frameworks.
Mercer IS, an online
research facility, forms the
central part of the service.
The company said it can
search through thousands
of funds domiciled in various
locations around the
world, each coming with
the firm’s detailed performance
analysis and qualitative
rating.
Hansi Mehrotra, Mercer’s
head of wealth management
services for Asia
Pacific, said: “We have
built and tested the framework
and tools to adapt
our institutional research
for HNW investors. Our
consulting approach also
ensures that we tailor these
to the private banks’ business
objectives.”
TrAiNiNg
The service will include
a training element for private
bank’s relationship managers,
where they will learn about the
investment approaches, styles
and processes of leading
institutional investors.
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.