Audio Transcript

I am happy to share my view in this podcast on the triggers that have massive impact on wealth management. As COO of ABN AMRO in Germany I am responsible for IT, Operations and FM. This of course also means that I am closely aligned with the strategy of the global organisation and responsible for implementing this strategy in my area of expertise in Germany.
First and foremost, I think it is important in this time to be a purpose driven organisation, especially in the banking sector. This is where ABN AMRO has set itself a strong purpose: Banking for Better for Generations to come. Everything we do is aligned with this purpose. And there are three strategy pillars below this purpose: Re-inventing the Customer Experience Sustainability and Future Proof Banking.
Rest assured, this podcast will not only be on the strategic pillars of ABN AMRO, but it is important to realise that in the Banking sector, and especially in Wealth Management, it is important to be a purpose driven organisation. Clients expect this and they want to recognise this in all of the services and products received.
This purpose needs to be within the core of the communication with the clients, both personally, via our relationship managers, but also digitally, via all the digital channels that we have interaction with our clients. As ABN AMRO we are convinced that we can only deliver additional value to our clients when there is a strong personal relationship supported by efficient processes and a good digital channel. In a good relationship we also want to move quickly with the changing demands of our clients. Within ABN AMRO we also refer to this as being a Personal Bank in a Digital Age.
Being in daily contact with our clients, we see that the demands of existing clients and prospects changes quickly. There is a strong preference for self-service where possible. The clients would like to have fast transparency and insight. At all times, through the different communication channels.
And this is where technology comes in, as a Bank we need to ensure that we are able to adopt quickly. This means that we need to partner up, have an open, but secure, environment and use the strong possibilities of cloud environments. And let´s not forget the technical organisation that needs to be able to move with ´agility´, the way of working that we implemented many years ago.
Karl mentioned in the previous podcast that agility is key which is very much supported by cloud technology. We can only underpin that 100%, also as ABN AMRO, we have adopted a ´cloud preferred´ strategy and are continuously investigating where building software ourselves brings added value. In general, there is a re-use, before buy, before build, strategy.
To close this podcast, I would like to shortly address the importance of security. Unfortunately, we see that even in this 21st century, there is still a war going on close by (including a cyber war), there are terrorists attack, there are criminals that try to reach the well-earned money of our clients. We do everything within our power to build for the Bank a secure environment. We are the trusted partner of our clients, and we want to live up to that, this also means that, together with our partners, we invest significant time and money in this subject and took many precautions to provide this security.
We believe that a Wealth Manager can only be successful when there is a strong personal and trustworthy relationship with our client, strongly supported by digital channels that add value at all times. And I am happy that I can share that our clients very much appreciate the personal and digital relationship with our Bank, with an Netpromoter Score of 58 – Netpromoter means the willingness to recommend us – and just to give an relation: the benchmark in the German market is 11!