Vontobel has entered into a strategic agreement with Bank of Singapore through which clients of the Singaporean private banks will be able to book their assets in Switzerland and use Vontobel as custodian.

The focus of the agreement is to enable Bank of Singapore clients to place their assets in Vontobel's booking center in Zurich and have access to Vontobel's range of wealth management European financial products and services, including the bank's structured products Deritrade platform, as well as Deritrade SmartGuide, the bank's B2B4C offering which combines wealth planning advisory services, pricing, structuring/engineering and trading functions, according to Roger Studer, head of Vontobel investment banking.

"This is another strategic partnership for us and it shows how different firms combine their capabilities for the benefit of the end client," said Studer. "Being able to offer our products and services to the clients of Bank of Singapore opens up new opportunities for those investors and increases our profile in the Apac region. The relationship managers in Singapore will be able to place their orders through Vontobel's business process management (BPM) in Zurich, and access our full platform including discretionary portfolio management, wealth management, and structured products."

Under the agreement, Bank of Singapore clients will have the option of choosing Vontobel or Bank of Singapore to manage their assets booked in Zurich. Vontobel was the top provider of structured products including non-retail and leverage products, but excluding flow & others, in Singapore in 2016. The Swiss bank took a 65% market share on the back of SG48m in sales, according to SRP data. Bank of Singapore's OCBC Bank is a top 5 provider in Singapore and has a 15% market share including non-retail, leverage and flow products.

Olivier Denis (pictured), Bank of Singapore's global market head of Singapore, International, Thai & Indo-China, said the agreement is designed to meet increasing interest from Asian clients to have their assets in custody in Switzerland on top of our current booking centers in Singapore and Hong Kong. "With this new capability, we are one of the few Asian private banks to be able to offer booking services for our clients in three of the leading global financial hubs - Singapore, Hong Kong and Switzerland," said Denis, in a statement. "This further strengthens Bank of Singapore's position as Asia's global private bank."

According to Denis, this tie-up with Vontobel to offer "best-in-class European financial solutions" is in line with Bank of Singapore's strategy to work with a global network of providers, such as BlackRock and BlackStone, to offer "world-class products and services as they continue to seek for yield in today's uncertain environment".

This cooperation is also a further milestone in Vontobel's international expansion of its global business offering to financial institutions, according to Brian Fischer, head of external asset managers at Vontobel. "International diversification of wealth is enjoying increasing acceptance in many foreign markets and in particular in Asia, which still represents a growth market for asset management," said Fischer, in a statement. "By combining the strengths of our organizations, Bank of Singapore clients will automatically enjoy an improved and expanded service offering. The cooperation represents an example for a smart way to offer best know-how in foreign markets by a local expert, which is a model case, also for other markets for Vontobel."

This agreement is aimed at bringing together Bank of Singapore's expertise in advisory services for Asian-based clients and Vontobel's offering of asset-booking services in Switzerland, the leading destination for offshore wealth, coupled with the Swiss bank's range of European financial solutions and services. Having Bank of Singapore manage its clients' assets booked with Vontobel gives its wealth managers a holistic view of the clients' total wealth portfolio, enabling them to manage clients' wealth in a comprehensive and efficient manner, said Denis.

The agreement is the latest move from the Swiss bank as it continues its international expansion which included the bundling of the its global digital offering which covers the creation and distribution of structured investment solutions with the expansion of its front-to-end offering for insurers and financial services providers via a 'white labelling' service as well as the addition of two units within its new Partner Solutions business.

As a result of this development the bank's multi-issuer platform unit headed by Gerhard Meier was tied to the new Partner Solutions business area, which now includes two newly created units - Platform Partners and Pension Solutions - both managed by Eric Wasescha since Q1 2016.

Vontobel was the top issuer of retail structured products -not including non-retail and leverage/flow products, in 2016 with over 9,700 products marketed globally and estimated US$10bn in sales.

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