BNP Paribas seeks to selectively expand global wealth footprint

BNP Paribas Wealth Management says it is positioning itself as a “global leader” in an industry under pressure to evolve. This is a bold claim for a bank that once appeared to be wedded purely to a loyal, Gallic client base, with limited horizons.

The destiny of the French bank’s wealth management arm is increasingly being shaped by the expectations of a younger, more connected generation, by rapid advances in technology, and by intensified competition across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, says its Paris-based CEO, Vincent Lecomte.

Younger wealth holders, says Mr Lecomte, are pushing banks to modernise their value proposition without compromising on fundamentals. “They are not naive,” he notes of their investment mindset. “Performance and risk still remain the top drivers.” Yet, many show a strong desire to align portfolios with purpose. Impact investing, thematic strategies, and entrepreneurial networking now rank high in this segment’s priorities.

To meet that demand, BNP Paribas runs dedicated workshops and forums for next-generation clients across the globe, including “flagship” sessions in Hong Kong and Rome, and especially during the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, where themes range from art to social impact. “We consider ourselves a true enabler,” says Mr Lecomte, highlighting the importance of peer-to-peer connections and curated knowledge exchanges among family successors.

The leading French player, managing $550bn in assets as of March 2025 — up from $486bn in December 2023 — is also exploring social media to tap into the minds of the next “very entrepreneurial” generation. 

BNP Paribas’s ambition is to remain the “partner of choice” across geographies, starting with Europe. “Europe is our home turf,” confirms Mr Lecomte, naming Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands as priority markets, as well as France.

“Vincent Lecomte is unique as a CEO of a wealth manager in that he totally understands and knows entrepreneurs,” says Kim Cornwall, a former Merrill Lynch and SG Hambros banker who now advises wealth managers. “Before joining BNP Paribas he spent 10 years in consulting working in Germany among the Mittelstand. He speaks perfect German and knows the entrepreneurs better than anyone.”

The group’s acquisition of HSBC’s private banking business in Germany will more than double its size there and is “a decisive step” toward leadership in the Eurozone’s largest economy, bringing assets under management to more than $46bn. Mr Cornwall calls this move a “masterstroke,” adding, “watch out Deutsche Bank and Berenberg — Vincent Lecomte and BNP Paribas are hot on your heels.”

In Italy, BNP Paribas is leveraging its affiliate, BNL, to deepen relationships with northern Italian entrepreneurs, while in the Netherlands the firm has steadily built out its presence since acquiring ABN Amro’s Luxembourg operations in 2017.

Outsize share

Asia, meanwhile, represents more than 20 per cent of the group’s global wealth management assets and an outsized share of future predicted growth. Mr Lecomte believes the region will surpass the US in terms of wealth creation within 10 to 15 years. “We’ve been strategically present for decades,” he says. Hong Kong remains the main hub for serving mainland Chinese clients, and the bank has reinforced its regional team with senior bankers.

In Singapore, BNP Paribas is benefiting from the city-state’s positioning as a “magnet” for Chinese, Indian and south-east Asian wealth. Mr Lecomte also points to Thailand, where the bank established a local team in 2024 to better serve entrepreneurs in the region’s second-largest economy.

The Middle East is also important, albeit with a more selective focus. With a sizeable wealth team based in Dubai and serving clients in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the wealth manager says it emphasises quality over scale. 

“We love to be selected by our clients, but we also want to choose the clients we do business with,” he says. This curated approach, he adds, reflects long-term commitment: “We are not brokers. We are not here to make short-term money and leave; our goal is to accompany our clients on their professional and personal journey in the long run.”

At the heart of the bank’s strategy is a significant investment in technology, particularly artificial intelligence. The objective is twofold: to improve internal efficiency, reducing the hours relationship managers (RMs) spend preparing for meetings, and to enable hyper-personalised client engagement. 

“The RM has to compile thousands of documents. They’re professional and they’re personal. It’s fully mixed,” he says. “The RM has to gather a lot of information about the current portfolio, but also about the industry, the environment, he cannot spend 100 hours to prepare just one kind of meeting, so AI helps gather everything we know about a client,” says Mr Lecomte, giving the RM “time to focus on what matters”.

Observers note that Mr Lecomte’s experience in online brokerage in the early 2000s has made him aware of the power of data and good IT systems in wealth management.

Beyond client service, AI is also seen as a lever to navigate compliance requirements, especially complex Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. The group is investing “hundreds of millions of euros” into technology for wealth management alone. “There are not that many banks that can do that,” believes Mr Lecomte.

Disrupting the model

Asked about the key opportunities and threats facing the industry, Mr Lecomte strikes a balanced tone. While acknowledging that fintechs and digital platforms are disrupting the private banking model, he believes that trust, long-term commitment, and access to best-in-class expertise remain the enduring differentiators.

To that end, BNP Paribas collaborates with select fintechs to enhance its offering. “They are part of our strategy,” he says.

Rather than focusing solely on headcount, BNP Paribas is prioritising quality and productivity of its relationship managers. “It’s not about how many RMs you hire,” Mr Lecomte notes, “but how much time they spend on clients, and whether they’re equipped for the job.” To support this, the bank has created its own internal wealth management university.

A key enabler of BNP Paribas’s growth is its “one bank” model, integrating wealth management with other divisions like global banking, real estate and asset management. “This is not a solo show,” he emphasises, referencing his close co-ordination with other business line leaders. “We are really at the crossroads of all BNP Paribas divisions.”

Changing perceptions

For many years, the wealth manager was seen as a “Franco-French” player, with limited reach outside its home ground. But this perception has slowly changed under the leadership of Mr Lecomte. In the Asian market, previously dominated by UBS and the Credit Suisse franchise which has now been absorbed by the larger Swiss player, BNP Paribas Wealth Management has gradually become a key contender. 

The German acquisition also means it now has European penetration into the much-valued entrepreneurial client segment, beyond France and the technological progress under Mariam Rassai, an engineer turned private banking tech boss, has also been impressive.

“Being a major French and global bank automatically attracts private banking clients seeking security and the expectation that it will keep up to date with technological advances,” says Ray Soudah, founder of the MillenniumAssociates strategic consultancy in Zurich, commenting on the market position of BNP Paribas.

Regarding leadership, he adds that Mr Lecomte’s reign at BNP Paribas so far has been “very satisfactory”. But Mr Cornwall goes further: “I would not be surprised to see Vincent Lecomte take the top job at BNP Paribas in the not-too-distant future.”