German bank sees surge in family office/business clients

Hamburg-based Berenberg Bank says it has seen a surge of money coming in from family offices and businesses as it reports record results for 2010.
 
The bank, which works with many of Germany’s Mittelstand companies, said that it scooped up an additional 1,000 clients last year – many of them from family offices and businesses – as Berenberg grew assets under management by €3.6 billion to €25.5 billion.
 
Acknowledging the importance of family businesses to the bank’s success, Andreas Brodtmann, managing partner at Berenberg, said: “The strategy of recommending to clients the best and most suitable investments on an impartial basis proved to be most popular and was remarkably successful, particularly when approaching midsize companies.”
 
Net profit last year was down from the €65.1 million achieved in 2009, but at €61.5 million was still the second-highest level ever achieved at the 421-year-old bank.
 
As part of its strategy to grow its private banking operations, earlier this year Berenberg opened a wealth management business in the UK, which it hopes to grow through existing clients as well as gaining new business.

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