Comment: Clients get sidelined in UBS vs Vestra
Wealth advisers invariably say they put client concerns at the top of their agenda. But it would appear they did not count for much in the dispute between private bankers’ loyalties to UBS Wealth Management in London and newly-launched Vestra Wealth.
Yesterday, a UK high court judge ruled in favour of UBS in a dispute with Vestra over staff and client poaching. The judge said UBS was entitled to a so-called “springboard injunction” on the grounds Vestra deliberately solicited clients and staff away from the Swiss bank, and that senior ex-UBS staff breached their duty of fidelity.
The judge added that departments within UBS were "seething" with plots and plans for many months.
It might be easy to gauge the feelings of private bankers at Vestra and UBS over the dispute, but little is known how the clients feel about it all. Few of them can be particularly happy, given that numerous surveys on client satisfaction levels place stability of service near to the top of most client concerns.
Alexander Hoare, managing partner at C. Hoare & Co, told Wealth Bulletin in May that his bank has been vacuuming up money from disgruntled wealthy clients since the start of the year, because his bank offers more than three hundred years of stability.
“The most common reason clients leave is continuity of relationship. Customers tire of explaining who they are to a new relationship manager every few months,” he said.
Vestra and UBS will say they have client concerns uppermost in their minds, and clients of are almost certainly better served when relationship managers are happy where they work.
But it is doubtful that clients would ever benefit from a full blown court case over poaching issues. It can be argued that these disputes are more about the ego of individuals and the banks rather than for the benefit of clients. And unfortunately for many clients of Vestra and UBS, yesterday’s court ruling was only a preliminary step in the dispute, which doesn’t get underway fully until October. The situation can only rebound in favour of rivals to both the firms.
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
reddit
StumbleUpon