Erste Group again awarded by The Banker for best private banking in Central and Eastern Europe, Austria and Croatia

Erste Group Bank AG (Erste Group) won the "Best Private Bank in Central and Eastern Europe" award again this year, thus securing the prestigious title for the eighth consecutive year. Erste Private Banking was also named "Best Private Bank in Austria 2021" (for the sixth year in a row) and "Best Private Bank in Croatia 2021". The awards are presented annually by the trade publications “The Banker” and “PWM”, both of which belong to the Financial Times Group.
 

Best Private Bank in Central and Eastern Europe

The jury emphasized Erste Group's high level of expertise in serving high net worth individuals in Austria and the entire CEE region, where local private banking units operate in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. In these markets, Erste Private Banking offers a full range of wealth management services to around 21,000 private clients with total assets under management of EUR 27.5 billion. In 2021, the focus of Erste Group’s private banking arm was on further developing and intensifying its highly successful Discretionary Portfolio Management solutions.

"The focus on our highly customizable asset management has paid off in full. We were absolutely correctly positioned with a strong focus on tech, consumer goods and sustainable investments and thus able to achieve very attractive returns for our clients. This has led to a massive increase in volumes across the region," explains Maximilian Clary, Head of Private Banking and Wealth Management.

Best Private Bank in Austria

Erste Private Banking was also honored for the eighth time in nine years and the sixth time in a row for providing the best private banking services in Austria. Within the market, Erste Group is not only distinguished by its excellent advice and service to high net worth individuals, but also by being the market leader in the Austrian investment fund business.

Best Private Bank in Croatia

Erste Private Banking has also been operating in Croatia since 2007 and has offices in Zagreb, Rijeka, Split and Osijek, where it serves over 1,000 wealthy clients. Kristina Buconjic, Head of Private Banking of Erste Bank Croatia: “Winning this award for the fourth time underlines the high quality of Erste Private Banking services in Croatia. The pandemic has proven once again that excellent customer service, tailor-made investment products, and an individual approach can lead to successful results even in very difficult times.”

The Global Private Banking Awards by PWM/The Banker

To make their selection, the panel of 16 leading industry experts reviewed submissions from more than 120 private banks. Performance was compared across metrics in the areas of portfolio management, asset allocation, risk management, diversity, growth strategies, client servicing, sustainable and impact investing, business models, succession planning, philanthropic services, staff retention, banker education and training, business continuity measures in response to COVID-19 and, last but not least, innovation.

The Banker is published by the London-based Financial Times Group as a monthly magazine for the banking industry. The awards and rankings given by The Banker are recognised as a seal of approval in the international banking industry. The trade magazine PWM Professional Wealth Management is also part of the Financial Times Group and analyses wealth management solutions for wealthy private clients and entrepreneurial families in particular.