Best Private Bank in Mena Region at 2022 WealthBriefing Mena Awards

Interview with Masroor Batin, CEO of BNP Paribas Wealth Management MENA, who set out the strengths of BNP Paribas Wealth Management.

BNP Paribas Wealth Management is an award-winning leading private bank, and the largest in the euro-zone (€408 billion of AuM/6,800+ professionals), providing wealth management solutions to clients across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. In MEA, BNP Paribas Wealth Management serves its ultra-high net worth clients through its 40 experienced bankers located across the region. While we offer universal ca-pabilities to our clients, in the MEA region, our clients benefit specifically from the expertise of BNP Pari-bas Real Estate and our award-winning Islamic Banking division.

Please explain what you think makes your firm successful in its chosen field.
The client centricity has been enhanced through a revamped commercial organisation; the offering has been strengthened through a stronger coordination with other business and sites of the group and through the development of new local products; the expertise of the site has been supported through the hiring of key talents and finally, the platform has been upgraded and digitised to further enhance client experi-ence.
In 2022, we focused on leveraging on our universal expertise and the Group strength. We continued to attract new clients and accompany existing ones to navigate markets. As a result, we have witnessed a very significant growth with our assets doubling since 2018. This year, despite a very challenging macro-economic context, we expect to grow our assets by $1 billion underpinning the strength of the team, the depth of our expertise and the continued support of our clients.

What have been the main obstacles you had to overcome and how did you do so to reach this level?
The general environment has been a true challenge. Starting from the COVID and its restrictions to the conflict in Europe, we had to quickly adapt and advise our clients in a very volatile environment. This year has been challenging due to difficult markets which have impacted our clients, who, more than ever, have used our global expertise to navigate these turbulent times. Competition also has been very fierce. Dubai is one of the most competitive banking centres with the presence of local and global players with strong ambitions to grow in the region. However, we continue to appear as a reference player mostly thanks to our unique value proposition supported by the strength of the BNP Paribas Group, our talented team that is widely recognised and finally thanks to the strength of our values that is driving trust and loyalty from our clients.

How do awards such as this make a difference to your firm and your colleagues?
Awards do make a strong difference. Beyond the financial results of the firm, it is a strong testament of everyone’s work and efforts. Our teams are dedicated and hard working towards delivering best-in-class solutions to our clients. The recognition of their work and expertise is key in attracting new talents and retaining existing ones. We are extremely proud of our successes with WealthBriefing in MENA, and we will continue to strive towards best serving our clients and deliver our ambitions.

What position would you like your firm to hold in its sector in five years’ time?
Our ambitions in the Middle East are very strong. We want to continue our double-digit growth for the years to come. More than financials, we want to remain the reference bank for entrepreneurs and families in the region.