BBVA has an aggressive growth target in global wealth, and the U.S. unit will play a very relevant role, contributing the largest share of asset growth, said Humberto García de Alba, in an exclusive interview with Funds Society.
The Spanish-origin bank has launched a new five-year strategic cycle, and BBVA GWA aims to “multiply several times over” its AUMs by 2029, he stated. “The United States will play a key role due to its importance in the region and because of the nature of the market. The goal is to grow significantly and quickly,” the executive anticipated.
Leveraging its three global wealth platforms (Switzerland, Spain, and the United States), BBVA offers its Latin American clients complementary and comprehensive solutions through the work of local and international teams of Wealth Planners, Investment Counselors, and Financial Advisors.
With this model, BBVA GWA plans to expand and diversify its base of high-net-worth Latin American clients “in a meaningful way.” Currently, 95% are Mexican, though clients from Peru and Colombia are being added; they will soon gain a presence in Uruguay as well, the CEO stated in the interview.
In the U.S., in addition to its main base in Miami, the firm also currently has offices in Houston.
The CEO announced that the unit is now launching discretionary management, with an investment team led by Víctor Piña, CIO of BBVA GWA. However, the advisory business remains significant, according to García de Alba, since “the Latin American client wants to retain that final decision over their wealth to a relevant extent; it is a client with little tendency to relinquish discretion,” he acknowledged.
A Clear Opportunity Ahead
“There is a very clear opportunity for BBVA in the Wealth business, since the Latin American client, for multiple reasons, holds a relevant portion of their financial wealth outside their country of origin. In the current context, the various international units focused on this type of client are a high priority,” the executive explained.
“BBVA has strongly committed to the Wealth business during the previous cycle. The bank is very well positioned in Spain, Turkey, Switzerland, and Portugal in Europe, and has a very relevant local presence in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Uruguay in Latin America,” he noted.
In the United States, BBVA’s presence in the international Wealth Management business spans 30 years, although it experienced a pause due to the 2021 sale of BBVA Compass to PNC Financial Services, until the reopening of the BBVA GWA office in Miami two years later. In Switzerland, this unit has been active for 50 years; in Spain, this type of service is relatively new for the bank.
A Framework for Growth
“We are growing at very fast rates,” García de Alba told Funds Society, while explaining that for both regulatory and practical/logistical reasons, they collaborate “closely” with BBVA Group’s local bankers, “because we consider the day-to-day relationship of trust with our clients to be important.”
A Mexican national, the new CEO has been with the Spanish group for over two decades. “What we have built over these years is that this trust-based relationship can be easily expanded internationally,” he noted, as the relationship with the local banker facilitates communication and access for the client to the specialists and global solutions that GWA offers from its platforms in the U.S., Switzerland, and Spain. “We have built the channels, the means, the platforms so that this communication happens very easily and very quickly,” he explained.
BBVA GWA offers its clients a unique global strategy that is approached in three layers, the executive explained. “We have the Wealth Planning area, as a guide for family solutions in situations such as inheritance, trusts, etc. Then, we have the figure of the Investment Counselor, which has existed for nearly 20 years. This is a specialist who dedicates 100% of their time to investment matters. And at the core of our offering is our Relationship Manager, our local or international advisor, depending on the figure that exists in each location. So, with this entire structural framework, we serve the high-net-worth client.”
García de Alba also emphasized that BBVA GWA is structured as an RIA, which means the fiduciary duty fosters a greater alignment of interests with the client. “I believe the biggest area of opportunity BBVA has right now in the Wealth business is on the international side,” the CEO affirmed.
“Locally, we have a lot of confidence in this business. We see a growth opportunity to multiply AUMs several times over. We’ve built the model, we have the people and very strong teams. We have a highly relevant growth path ahead, and I believe we have all the foundations in place to make it happen,” he concluded.
