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Experiences are the brand. The brand is now the experience.
A two-year pandemic reshaped the future landscape for financial services rapidly and abruptly. To not only survive but thrive, organisations had a unique opportunity to lead. To get a deeper understanding of their clients, empathise more, make their financial lives friction-free, and offer a brand experience - not merely just another service.
The new normal is where the client's expectation is that they will get more value through the experience and interaction with the brand itself. Experiences are now the brand and the brand is now the experience.
What is a private banking experience in this new context?
Investec recently launched a campaign with the tagline ‘Now, that’s Private Banking’. Cumesh Moodliar, head of Private Banking, explains how Investec has managed to remain an international award-winning Private Bank and Wealth Manager for 10 years* and how its client experience has always set the standard for financial services in South Africa.
“We’ve never wavered from one of our core principles. Our clients and our people are at the heart of everything we do. This enables Investec to set the pace, maintain high standards and offer our clients unmatched service levels for a holistic, individual, and specialised Private Banking experience. From our young professionals to our established entrepreneurs, our medical professionals to our private capital clients, we embody what Out of the Ordinary means.”
It is not what you do, but how you do it
Moodliar observes that as a truly client-centric business, its key differentiator has always been creating Out of the Ordinary client experiences and delivery of exceptional client service.
“The way Investec partners with clients is always human, backed by high-tech solutions. Investec Online and our App give our clients a consolidated view of their banking and investment accounts, locally and internationally, on one platform and with one login.”
“Client experience should be effortless, convenient, and personal. This means that we take the time to really get to know our clients. Their dreams for their lives and that of their family or business. We then find a way to help them simplify their lives, grow their wealth, and protect what matters most to them. We help them create and leave a meaningful legacy,” he adds.
Leave a legacy – not as simple as it sounds
With the world re-looking its priorities, money is not just about acquiring more. More than ever, it is about leaving a legacy for a family, a business, a community, or a country. But, it can be overwhelming if you don’t have the expertise and don’t know where to start.
He recognises that legacy means different things to different people. “It’s not just about wealth, an inheritance, or intergenerational wealth transfer. It’s where wisdom meets wealth. It’s creating, growing, and investing in something beyond yourself.”
“As a legacy partner, Investec offers the services, expertise, and platforms to enable our clients to manage and preserve their immediate and extended families’ and future generations’ wealth and banking needs, locally and internationally. Clients and their families have access to an expert and passionate Private Banker who can connect them to specialists across the business, including wealth, investment, and stockbroking managers, life insurance advisers, and a tax and fiduciary team. Our global Client Support Centre is available 24/7/365,” he explains.
Keep evolving
Moodliar remarks that in today’s world of dynamic change, the financial needs and expectations of individuals and families have become even more complex.
“As a leading international Private Banking, Wealth Management and legacy partner, our business is built around our clients. In the last two years, Investec One Place™ has evolved from banking and investments for the individual to a holistic multi-generational solution. We put our clients, their family, and their business at the centre of an integrated ecosystem that is personalised to them.”
Investec takes the time to form life-long partnerships with its clients to ensure that each client experience is truly Out of the Ordinary.
Moodliar concludes, “We continue to seek new opportunities and evolve with our clients over the long term to grow and preserve their wealth, with the understanding of the connection between long-term wealth and a more sustainable world. In this way, we build enduring legacies that future generations can be proud of.”
A promise to be kept
Brands can promise their clients the world. A brand experience that is just as unique as they are. But if they cannot truly deliver on this it will affect client experience, trust, brand loyalty and so much more.
The moral of this story is that if you make a promise – best you make sure you can deliver on it.
*Investec has been named the Best Private Bank and Wealth Manager in South Africa for the 10th consecutive year in the prestigious Financial Times of London Awards for 2022. In addition, we won Best in Africa for Philanthropy Services, for the first time.
Investec Private Banking, a division of Investec Bank Limited registration number 1969/004763/06. Investec Private Banking is committed to the Code of Banking Practice as regulated by the Ombudsman for Banking Services. Copies of the Code and the Ombudsman's details are available on request or visit www.investec.com. A registered credit provider registration number NCRCP9. Investec Wealth & Investment International (Pty) Ltd, registration number 1972/008905/07. A member of the JSE Equity, Equity Derivatives, Currency Derivatives, Bond Derivatives and Interest Rate Derivatives Markets. An authorised financial services provider, license number 15886. A registered credit provider, registration number NCRCP262. The disclaimer is deemed to form part of this message in terms of Section 11 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.
