Emirates NBD seeks private banking growth

DUBAI (Reuters) - Emirates NBD ENBD.DU, the largest bank by assets in the United Arab Emirates, said it plans to boost its private banking business, primarily in Singapore.

Private banking globally is in flux, with some key international banks leaving the field as others seek to expand and balance volatile investment banking revenues with the steadier income flows from services to the super rich.

"We will look into leveraging our presence in Singapore ... our focus is on regional clients ... we believe that is our sweet spot at this point in time," Emirates NBD's CFO Sanjay Uppal said at the Reuters Middle East Investment Summit.

Emirates NBD has doubled its number of relationship managers to 50 in 2009, and has private banking activities in the UAE, London, Jersey and Singapore.

Despite the crisis, the growth prospects for the global private banking industry remain robust, driven by rising wealth in places such as Russia, China and the Middle East.

In addition, the private banking sector is undergoing a round of consolidation, as some European banks hit by the crisis have put their wealth management units on the block.

At the end of 2008, the world's number of high net worth individuals, those with investable assets of at least $1 million, fell nearly 15 percent compared with the previous year, according to the annual Capgemini and Merrill Lynch World Wealth Report.

In the Middle East, the number dropped by 5.9 percent, but is forecast to grow 5.7 percent between 2008 and 2013.

Some of the world's private banking powerhouses such as Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Barclays (BARC.L) are already established in the Middle East and have earmarked the region for expansion.

The U.K.'s Standard Chartered (STAN.L) recently said it would double the number of relationship managers in the UAE by 2010 as it further expands in emerging markets.

Emirates NBD is seeking growth in areas such as private banking where it is not strongly represented, as the economic downturn in the region dampens profits in more traditional segments for the bank.

"There are broad opportunities in areas where we are unrepresented and we continue to hire," Uppal said.

(Editing by Chris Wickham and Rupert Winchester)