ABSA PRIVATE BANK / ABSA WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Overall

Offering the full range of products and services across all client segments, Absa has taken steps recently to beef up its onshore and offshore capabilities. With its separation from Barclays Plc, Absa embarked on a new strategy for its international banking and investment proposition, previously built on the Barclays infrastructure in Isle of Man, London, Dubai and Geneva. A dual approach was followed to enable standalone capabilities to support Absa Wealth on an international scale.

It allows for seamless reporting of all its clients’ offshore holdings, across geographies, currencies and asset classes. Absa appointed French multinational financial group Société Générale Securities Services as its platform provider.

The bank has also partnered with Barclays Bank Mauritius to leverage the existing onshore premier banking infrastructure, including relationship management, internet banking and cardissuing capabilities. Though wealth advisory is the division’s core offering, it has capabilities to provide stockbroking and bespoke portfolio management to clients through the stockbroking platform and the portfolio management team. It also offers multi-asset and single-asset investments, structured products, forex, and philanthropy and succession planning.

Forty percent of Absa’s clients rate the professionalism of their last interactions as excellent. One says: “Absa is very professional, sufficient time is taken to go through all the details, it is very transparent and explains the investment fee structures well.”