A 360° view of the customer's needs

In our view, the mission of the Personal Banker is to provide the best possible guidance to customers and to offer the most appropriate solutions for their situation and goals. This is why we offer our Personal Banking customers a 360° meeting.

In this meeting, we do a thorough examination of the customer's situation with them. Together we discuss their personal, family and professional circumstances. We are interested in their short, medium and long term plans, both personal and professional. Finally, we try to grasp their financial situation and any real estate projects they may have in Luxembourg or abroad.

By doing so, we can detect elements among their assets that may have an impact on their financial or tax situation, and that they may not have thought about or been aware of up to then. We can then propose appropriate solutions.

The Personal Banker is the customer's main contact for the management of their assets, but he can also be backed up by experts for the customer's more specific asset or financing needs.

Ultimately, the better we know our customers and their needs, the more we can offer them customised solutions, which is the purpose of the 360° meeting.

The customer's needs change mainly according to their age group.

Between the ages of 30 and 45, they are generally looking for financing solutions, especially for their main residence. In this case, the Personal Banker, backed up by a credit expert, can for example help the customer find the right balance between the amount of credit to be borrowed and the amount to be invested in financial markets. Indeed, the expected return on a long-term financial investment may be higher than the mortgage rate. With this in mind, the customer can leverage the financial investment to finance their real estate project.

Customers over 45 years of age are more interested in financing a rental property or a second home, as well as preparing for their retirement. The further along in life the customer is, the more they think about passing on their assets and protecting their loved ones. 

The specificity of our international clientele in Luxembourg also implies an increased need for wealth and tax information. Our mission here goes beyond the banking framework, as our only task is to inform the customer and direct them to the right people or experts.

We also note a growing appetite for digital solutions, across all generations, particularly for virtual meetings that avoid the need to travel for short meetings. For large projects, customers generally prefer face-to-face meetings. 

We note two main trends. The first is the appeal of responsible investment to customers. In this sense, and in the context of the SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation), we are working on more sustainable versions of our investment products, whether within our discretionary management solution or via investment fund propositions.

The second trend is more divisive; the younger generation is more oriented towards "execution only" investing, i.e. managing their own investments by buying/selling products according to their values, the timing and the opportunities that arise. This approach usually requires significant research and hands-on involvement by customers. It can be riskier as it suggests a high level of knowledge and responsiveness to financial markets. As our customers get older, they tend to prefer discretionary management (we manage their portfolio for them, based on an investment strategy established together), notably due to a lack of time or a concern about risk control. The investment world demands a high level of responsiveness, especially when a crisis arises, and this type of management gives them greater peace of mind. 

05/23