With market consolidation, the expansion of specialist expertise and the acceleration of technological progress, wealth management is undergoing a major transformation. Global Gate intends to embrace these developments by strengthening its platform, its teams and its AI capabilities. Fred Debbané outlines the group’s ambitions and its growth strategy here.
Global Gate has just strengthened its Wealth Management platform with the arrival of Michel Adjadj and Jean-Pierre Mehana. What concrete changes do these two appointments bring to the group’s strategy?
Michel and Jean-Pierre join us with solid practical experience and an excellent understanding of our traditional markets. Both were seasoned bankers before taking on the roles of Chairman of the Board and Head of Market, respectively. They therefore bring with them expertise in both governance and management.
Jean-Pierre has a particularly strong understanding of the Middle East. In Switzerland, Michel has a very extensive network, which enables us to develop new relationships with key players in the sector, whether through collaboration or acquisition. Their arrival therefore serves, first and foremost, to strengthen and consolidate our platform.
Global Gate positions itself as a diversified group, operating primarily in the fields of wealth management, asset management, private equity and property. How does this diversity translate into the offering currently available to private clients?
Private clients have also become much more sophisticated, and their expectations have naturally evolved. At the same time, the financial markets have undergone profound changes. The drastic decline in the number of listed companies, for example, is now leading to greater interest in private markets, where an increasing number of large-cap companies are to be found.
Limiting ourselves to a single asset class, area of expertise or specific service therefore only allows us to meet part of the client’s needs.
We take a more holistic approach to wealth management. This leads us to constantly expand our skills and knowledge into new areas. Our aim is to be able to address all of our clients’ financial concerns under one roof.
To achieve this, we must be able to analyse an ever-expanding financial landscape using the appropriate tools. This relies on the expertise we develop in-house, as well as on the Global Gate ecosystem, which gives us access to further specialist knowledge. The aim is to offer informed and consistent advice, with a diversified view of wealth rather than managing assets in silos.
To what extent have talent recruitment and a culture of partnership become essential drivers for building a boutique wealth management firm today?
Our industry is, and will remain, a people-centred industry. Talent recruitment must therefore be at the heart of our strategy. Above all, we seek complementary and diverse profiles to foster collaboration within close-knit teams. Everyone must be able to contribute their expertise, and the more we work together in a spirit of responsibility, the better we can maintain an organisation on a human scale and the entrepreneurial spirit that characterises it.
Of course, profit-sharing – whether through share ownership or profit-sharing schemes – reinforces this model. It is a real source of motivation, but above all a means of aligning interests over the long term. This long-term commitment from our teams matters enormously to our clients and helps to reassure them. This is one of the key strengths of our business model.
How do you envisage Global Gate developing over the next five to ten years?
We must maintain this virtuous circle between growth and investment. Growth depends on consolidating our existing markets and expanding into new territories. Investment focuses in particular on developing our in-house expertise and on automation. This is what enables the platform to continue attracting talent and developing new solutions.
Scale is important in the model we are pursuing, so we must continue to grow. We must also adapt to the major changes currently taking place, foremost among which are technological upheavals. These affect all our business areas, our relationship with clients, as well as our organisations and operational processes.
We are in a period of rapid transition, which can be daunting in some respects, but is also very stimulating.
How are Global Gate’s various activities currently divided between wealth management, asset management, private equity and property?
Global Gate continues to diversify its activities around its range of financial services. The recent acquisition of a majority stake in BEMO Europe Bank in Luxembourg is part of this strategy.
In Switzerland, through GGAM, we focus on wealth management and asset management. Our teams advise and manage the assets of our wealth clients, whilst developing products where we believe we are best placed to do so ourselves. We now also offer our funds to numerous partners in the Swiss financial centre who share our approach to investment.
Where do you currently see the most interesting growth opportunities for Global Gate?
Firstly, in new markets linked to our existing client base, which is expanding its activities into wider geographical areas. I am thinking, for example, of the Mediterranean region for our clients in the Middle East. These markets seem to us to be natural extensions.
Secondly, through partnerships, which we believe in very strongly. Mindsets are changing, and market players will find many reasons to pool their strengths. The market will become less fragmented in the coming years, and we must be part of this trend.
Where do you place your priorities today?
On learning about and using new AI-related tools. We’re training ourselves, taking courses and using them as much as possible. We also meet internally once a week to share our experiences and identify new practical applications.
These tools are particularly useful for repetitive tasks and certain monitoring functions. The investment teams are also making extensive use of them, particularly for managing client relationships and producing content. We are already seeing substantial productivity gains.
Learning to use AI and integrating it into our business is no longer optional. It is also a new tool at our disposal to help us better manage the growing complexity of our business.