Published by AsianPrivateBanker – 25th March 2015
APB Mandate
After more than a decade at Credit Suisse in Zurich and Singapore where he specialised in structured products, Rodolphe Larque has joined the banks fund selection community.
Larque decided to transition into an expanded management role, landing himself the position as the integrated Swiss private bank’s head of funds and ETFs in Asia Pacific.
“From a business perspective, I believe there is a strong potential for funds in the Asia Pacific region; figures show that it is a fast-growing space, in particular for the private banking segment,” says Larque, adding that his team continues to expand. “The bank is also increasingly focusing on managed solutions; not only funds but also mandates, both discretionary and advisory.”
Mandate largely unchanged
The Singapore-based gatekeeper’s mandate, who began his new role in 2014, remains largely the same as his predecessor. He will be selecting Asia-Pacific funds and ETFs for Credit Suisse globally, distributing global funds to the regions’ HNWIs and run separate platforms for Australia and Japan, the latter of which Larque also has oversight on alternatives.
Larque will look to enhance the local offering in the wake of considerable developments and sizable growth in the Asian fund market, highlighting share classes as an example.
Contrasting with the growing prominence of the yuan share class, Larque tilts the balance toward Southeast Asia asking; “What about other local currencies such as Indonesian rupiah, Thai baht or Malaysian ringgit? It is important to adapt to client demand and be ready for the next market development.”
Nascent industry
Asia’s asset management industry remains a nascent but rapidly emerging field. Many smaller players meet a variety of barriers when attempting to land on private banks’ platforms, such as documentation and front-office capacity, but brighter days may await boutiques.
Larque will be extending an established practice in Europe by considering tapping sub-platforms to access products from small fund houses.
“This offers a time and cost-efficient solution to both parties sides.” he says. “Once we see larger demand for their offering, we can on-board them directly to our platform.”
Credit Suisse’s Asia bank’s client assets surged an additional US$23 billion by the end 2014, an amount that would alone earn it a top 20 spot on Asian Private Banker’s AUM League Table, to reach US$154 billion.
Do your homework
To those wanting to gain access to this platform, Larque candidly asks providers for one thing: do your homework.
“Some fund houses seem to have a great fund solution to access any investment idea you mention,” he says. “That is not credible. We have a state-of-the-art quantitative model that assesses funds based on multi-dimensions: return, risk, alpha potential and consistency for the main parts.”
“We actually appreciate when fund managers know their own strengths and weaknesses compared with their peers and concentrate their sales effort only on their best offerings. This results in a more efficient discussion for both sides.”
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