More security and less budgetary uncertainty. This was stated by the private bank during a round table organized as part of Madrid Investor Networking Day (MIND), an event which brought together excellent representation of the financial sector in the Spanish capital this Thursday. The panel, which brought together the leaders of Santander, BBVA, Deutsche Bank and Sabadell Urquijo, was moderated by Ángel Alonso, journalist from elEconomista.es specialized in the asset management sector.
“Taxation is fundamental. Another thing is that it is not the only argument when making investment decisions,” said Fernando Candau, head of private banking at Deutsche Bank in Spain. The problem is that “the regulator and the government are changing the taxation of products, and we must adapt and guide customers towards products that are effective for them”. For his part, Francisco Javier García, director of Santander Private Banking Spain, highlighted that an investor in private banking, and investors in general, look for advantageous taxation, but “The most important thing is that taxation is predictable and stable. This is what we all demand,” and I am confident that all parties concerned will be in agreement on this point.”
Fernando Ruiz, Director of Private Banking at BBVA in Spain, agrees: “When you invest, especially in the case of private banking clients, you look at the long term and for that you need taxation. which is also predictable in this area. long term.” term”, but in his opinion what entities now manage “is the short term, and that’s the big problem”“, he added, because to plan correctly, “you need stability.”
Xavier Blanquet, deputy general director of Banco Sabadell and commercial director of Sabadell Urquijo Banca Privada, explained that, when advising the client, the first thing is to know their objectives and needs, and that taxation is the way to optimize the entry path. which said objectives are achieved.
The regulation which modified the regulation of SICAVs It has led many of them to transform, which has generated a boom in family-type venture capital companies (SCRs). The success of these vehicles is indisputable, underlined the speakers, in part because they benefit from advantageous taxation, but they do not constitute an obvious substitute for SICAVs, because they require much higher assets and are very concentrated on a single asset. Private banking officials once again underlined the idea that under no circumstances should taxation be the main reason for investing.
Open architecture in illiquids
They also talked about alternative assets. “Measures are being taken. A few years ago they were marketed only for institutional investors and today we also market them for retail clients,” said Fernando Ruiz, director of Private Banking at BBVA. Ruiz recalled that the entity was going to lower the limits of access to this product from 100,000 euros to 50,000 euros. In the area of illiquid assets, he added, “we need to move towards an open architecture, as is already the case for liquid assets.” Alternative assets already represent a fifth of pension fund portfolios.
Regarding the convenience of democratize investment in alternativesXavier Blanquet, deputy general director of Banco Sabadell, warned that, even if it must be accessible, this asset presents “some contraindications” because it is illiquid and involves a very long-term investment. “In our case, for clients with small amounts, we make this investment through vehicles that mitigate some of these disadvantages.” That said, the alternatives “must be basic in the portfolios of private banks,” he underlined.
“As for whether or not to lower the minimum amounts, it depends on many factors,” added Francisco Javier García, director of Santander Private Banking Spain, “but we will undoubtedly witness a reconciliation process in which the client may be exposed to private assets, which will be necessary to build a good portfolio” in terms of risk-return.
