Mr. Henckel, the entire financial sector, LGT included, is sending their relationship managers for further training. Why? 

LGT had already developed an internal further training program entitled «Certified Private Banker» for its relationship managers several years ago. Our goal was to improve the quality of advice and at the same time ensure that relationship managers offer our clients first-rate services and a high-quality advisory experience.

So why is LGT now switching over to the Swiss Association for Quality’s (SAQ) certification?

The SAQ certification has become the market standard. As a result, it is an official seal of quality that makes it possible to compare performance across the entire industry. This is beneficial to clients because they can rely on a high standard of quality, and it increases the appeal of our financial center. We are happy to align ourselves with the new standard in order to benefit from this advantage.

Was it complicated to introduce the additional certification?

Our in-house «Certified Private Banker» training already had similarly high standards to the SAQ «Certified Wealth Management Advisor CWMA».

«It has been an intensive six months»

The testing system, which is a combination of comprehensive written exams and a client discussion assessment, is also comparable. With the addition of two written exams, we now fully meet the guidelines for recognition by the SAQ.

How long did it take for the additional certification to be completed?

We were able to build on extensive know-how because almost all LGT relationship managers already had the in-house certification. After an intensive six months, we could proudly announce that all of our 240 relationship managers at the LGT banks in Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Austria met the certification criteria. This success is primarily thanks to the relationship managers, who committed to making a significant additional effort.

What are the next steps?

The «Certified Wealth Management Advisor CWMA» focuses on lifelong learning. Relationship managers are re-certified every three years. This ensures they receive training on an ongoing basis and are up-to-date on the latest knowledge. We will, of course, also round this certification out with specific further in-house training.

«We offer qualified training»

To ensure that we can offer an outstanding client experience, we are also further training our assistants. We offer them qualified training in the form of  «Certified Assistant Relationship Manager (CARM)» certification.

Heinrich Henckel has been CEO of LGT Bank (Switzerland) since April 2013. He studied law at the University of Fribourg, where he also completed his doctorate. He then worked for several years as a lawyer in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Switzerland. Following this, he worked at the Swiss stock exchange in Zurich and London, from 2001 until 2008 its CEO, before joining LGT in 2009.