Dubai-based Private Bank CEO Salman Haider Tracks the Middle East Wealth Market’s Rapid Evolution

Salman Haider has been Chief Executive Officer, Global Wealth Management for Habib Bank AG Zurich for roughly two years, building the operation from scratch. Based out of the bank’s offices in the Dubai International Finance Centre, he is also the Senior Executive Officer and responsible for creating and building the private banking and wealth management business, and covers Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. He took the role in January 2021, having assembled an impressive track record in finance and wealth management over the previous 23 plus years, with increasingly high profile positions in London, Singapore and Zurich at major banks such as Citi, JP Morgan and Barclays. Curiously enough, his arrival at Habib Bank AG Zurich brought him full circle, as the very first job he had on completing his master’s in business in 1998 was with the very same bank, in their London branch. Hubbis met with him recently to learn more of his business building mission at the Swiss bank, to understand more about how he is working to create a viable boutique private bank, and to hear his observations on the rapid development and diversification of the wealth management markets in the Middle East.

Habib Bank AG Zurich is a Swiss bank based in Zurich, with operations in Hong Kong, Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Canada and the United Kingdom. It was established in 1967, and provides corporate, personal, private, and correspondent banking products through its international network of branches, subsidiaries and affiliates. The group’s rapidly expanding Private Banking division is also headquartered in Zurich.

Having operated in the UAE since 1974, the bank’s thrust into wealth management received a major boost when Haider joined from his former role heading up growth markets for Barclays Private Bank out of London. He is responsible for the Habib Bank AG Zurich’s Private Bank & Wealth Management business across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, focusing on UHNW and HNW clients. Although the private bank HQ is in Zurich, Haider works out of Dubai, an ideal base and time zone from which to cover all his markets, and spends a couple of weeks every month out of the Zurich Head Office as well.

A noteworthy history

Haider explains that the family-owned Swiss bank dates back roughly sixty years and has a strong reputation as a commercial and trade finance bank, primarily across its 10 offices in its eight key markets from Hong Kong right through to Canada.

“I was brought in by the family owners to build a private bank platform and business within the bank, similar in some ways to some of the other well-known older banks,” he explains. “The bank boasts an established client base across its key products and services, working with many wealthy clients and families and their businesses, and with a strong multi-generational connectivity. We have worked with those clients in the past on corporate or trade finance largely, so this operation represents a new departure to work with them on wealth management.”

Building on a firm base

Haider reports that the family owners and management felt that with their legacy credibility, skills, and relationships, and with their Swiss booking centre, they had the right type of heritage to build a private bank operation within the existing walls. “Dubai is an ideal hub for us from which to serve existing and future clients, with a Swiss booking platform,” Haider reports, “focusing first on the preservation of capital and also on legacy planning.”

Haider steps back from the detail to broaden the discussion by remarking on what he calls disintermediation in the private bank space with the emergence of increasing numbers of single- and multi-family offices around the main international financial centres.

The quest for objectivity

“The major global private banks have realised that the decision-making capability for the UHNW clients has been migrating increasingly to the family offices,” he says. “We are seeing a trend develop, and this is not only in Dubai but in Asia as well, where the demand for truly independent advice is rising amongst these types of clients. They are increasingly seeking high-quality providers who are not tied to major investment banks, and are not distribution shops either, but who can genuinely provide strong, objective advice and at the same time be agnostic as to products. That is a trend I believe will continue.”

He also remarks that Dubai’s wealth market is in a state of rapid evolution, with the number of providers such as Habib Bank AG ‘mushrooming’, but with no definitive picture as yet as to who will provide the necessary quality advice and service, and indeed who might survive or fall by the wayside.

Scale and strategy

“Realistically, only some are going to survive, because the cost to serve requires the right scale and strategy,” he says. “Those with enough financial backing and the right approaches will be able to survive and deliver the value proposition that the clients need and expect.”

He drills down further beneath the surface of his comments, noting that Habib Bank AG Zurich is a family-owned bank, and like a number of other EAMs and MFOs that are family-backed, the focus is far less on selling product, and far more on preservation-led asset management, leveraging resources by working with different experts and partners to deliver best-in-class advice and solutions.

Open architecture appeals

“Many such operators do not suffer the very expensive plumbing and infrastructure of the bigger private banks, nor the desire to pump through products as we see amongst the investment banks, and that open architecture type approach really differentiates these more niche newer players,” he reports.

He says that regarding scale, clearly operators like Habib Bank AG Zurich and its near competitors do not have the size or resources of the brand name global players, though they absolutely have the right to play and win in specific markets and segments where they operate—as demonstrated by the bank’s history over 6 decades.

“But I think this new fledgling segment of boutique banks, EAMs and MFOs can offer a different and interesting value proposition for wealthier clients seeking a genuinely holistic type of wealth management,” he comments.

The platform and the people

Haider says that two vital keys to the offering are to make sure that the platform and the people are top class.

“We invested in the Finnova booking platform in Switzerland, as we saw it was key to being able to build scale that works for us,” he reports. “You just pay a fee, and you have the Finnova platform up and running, which is ideal. Importantly, smaller and boutique operators like us do not have the legacy systems and infrastructure that can so often impede this type of plug and play platform solution.” That agility and nimbleness is key versus large incumbents, even when it came to the bank launching a white label, self-directed trading platform for clients with Saxo, for example.

Quality is vital

And people are, of course, essential to the wealth management offering for HNW and UHNW clients. “The battle for the right talent will continue, especially for banks such as Habib Bank AG Zurich as we work with clients in the real upper echelons of wealth,” he says. “People need to be able to offer and personally deliver really good advice; it is crucial to our offering.” Culture is critical for us when we hire and grow with our talent—something we have done for decades as well.

Another challenge is around client acquisition, which Haider says can be a ‘nightmare’ for newcomers. “We are very fortunate,” he says, “as we have 10 offices round the world to draw on for client referrals, and cross referrals back to those offices. And we have been here in the UAE since 1974. But if you are starting out as an EAM or MFO hunting for clients in the USD2 to USD10 million range, it is often incredibly tough.”

After roughly two years in his new role, Haider reports that the wealth management team now consists of RMs in Zurich and DIFC- Dubai, with a strong CIO and investment team in Zurich, supported by the various functions.

A picture is forming…

Gazing into his crystal ball, Haider says the picture forming of the wealth management landscape of the future is still far from clear. But he says that more generally, the wealth industry in the next decade is going to look very different at the top echelons of private banking, as there are more and more single-family offices (SFOs) and MFOs emerging.

“The global brand banks should be able to compete, but their direct clients will to some extent be disintermediated amongst the SFOs and MFOs, so they need to provide a core platform expertise and the ability to execute and deliver high quality solutions,” he states.

The clients’ expectations

He says that although the competitive picture that is still evolving, he does see the clear need for high-quality, extremely astute advice, broad-based expertise, and smaller operators leveraging the skills and experience of preferred external experts. “Moreover,” he reports, “the demand for objective, holistic wealth management will continue and will increase.”

Accordingly, he considers that the very wealthy and UHNW type of clients will generally continue to maintain their relationships with a select few of the brand name global banks, at the same time as working with more boutique specialists such as Habib Bank AG Zurich that offer their type of highly independent and objective proposition.

“And at the same time, the single- and multi-family offices will seek to hire very capable CIOs where they can, although actually pulling them out of their cosy jobs in major institutions is not that easy,” he observes.

A place in the sun

Haider says that given his current outlook on the years ahead, he therefore firmly believes that the Bank itself can keep or find a niche for very wealthy clients alongside their usual major global type banks. “If looking at the client base with between USD10 million and USD50 million of bankable assets, we believe there is still good potential for us,” he states.

Focusing specifically on Dubai and its evolving and diversifying wealth market, he offers the analogy of hunting for clients in a forest. “If you are really hungry, you might try to catch what you can, but those might not necessarily be the quality type of clients we aim to work with,” he says.

Seeing the wood from the trees

However, although there are many different and newer types of clients arriving from all over in this metaphorical forest, he says there are enough higher quality clients to focus on. “For us, we are seeking good quality clients who might feel they are not getting what they need or want from the major banks,” he elucidates. “They are essentially looking for advice without product bias, without distribution bias, and a highly personalised service and a tangible value proposition. And Habib Bank AG Zurich has a sufficient size, history, reputation, and network to appeal to them.”

Key Priorities

Haider was brought in to build the wealth business, and that is his core strategic priority today. The Bank’s strategic focus globally is on wealth management, the global financial institutions business, and Islamic Banking. In fact, the private bank has just started offering Islamic banking in Zurich and Haider aims to be the leading Islamic private bank platform in Switzerland in time to come.

Building the right foundations

He closes the conversation by reminding us of the huge potential for wealth management in the Middle East and indeed in his key markets in Europe, Africa, and Asia. “We are some two years into this project and building from a solid base,” he says. “We have the commitment internally and the resources, and we are building a proposition that we believe will resonate with clients. It is an exciting time to be here.”

Getting Personal

Haider hails originally from Pakistan, which he still considers home today, despite many years living and working in London, Zurich, Singapore and now in Dubai.

“I enjoyed a global education, as my father was a career diplomat,” he reports. “Accordingly, as I grew up I lived and schooled in East Africa, India, the Middle East, and the US, then completed my bachelor’s degree in Political Science & Economics at Punjab University in Pakistan, and then got my Masters from the Cass Business School in London.”

He says his career has come full circle as his very first job in London was with Habib Bank AG Zurich in London in 1998, starting first on the treasury desk and spending some three years there is a number of roles. A few years later, Citi hired him as a Citi Gold RM, and he worked with them in London, Zurich and Singapore, all the time rising through the ranks.

He then joined JP Morgan in Singapore to cover Southeast Asia’s private wealth management markets, before moving back to London with Citi for some years, and then joining Barclays as their international private bank head.

“That last role was a shorter stint than I had imagined, as Habib Bank AG approached me for this role,” he reports. “It seemed the right moment to combine my experience, my entrepreneurial zest and the family’s backing to build this private bank offering. It has been challenging, rewarding, and stimulating this far, and we are on track to realise our ambitions.”

He and his wife have three children and two pets. Their first is doing her Master's at Cass Business School, having studied Psychology at Warwick University. Their son is 19 and now in the US studying architecture. And their youngest, another daughter, is aged 17 and in Dubai at international school. “In short, it all means I must work until I am about 85 years old,” Haider quips, jovially.

He remains interested in test match cricket, he plays golf at the weekends, although professes not to have improved for many years. And he thoroughly enjoys being at home and often indulging his love of series on Netflix and Amazon Prime buff.

He also remains a season ticket holder for Chelsea Football Club, which for many years since the turn of the century had been a top team while under Roman Abramovic’s ownership in England, but which this season is languishing mid-table under their new US owner.

“I am hoping things will turn around soon with a new owner who is clearly committed to spending money to build a new team for the years ahead, and with the new manager that he has brought in,” Haider concludes. “Call me an optimist, but I think a good future beckons.