Intesa sees Italy private banking growth

By Lisa Jucca

GENEVA (Reuters) - Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Italy's largest retail bank and a domestic leader in wealth management, expects the private banking segment to continue grow by 6 to 8 percent yearly, the head of its private banking division said.

"In the long run we can experience a rate of growth between 6 and 8 percent (for the sector)," Paolo Molesini, chief executive officer for IntesaSanpaolo Private Banking, told the Reuters Wealth Management Summit in Geneva on Tuesday.

"We think we will continue to grow above the average because we have a competitive advantage which is the synergy with the corporate side of the bank."

Molesini, whose side of the bank manages 73 billion euros ($102.5 billion) of onshore assets and a further 10 billion euros abroad, said he would like to expand the offshore business to serve Italian clients in Switzerland and new clients in eastern Europe.

About 9 billion euros of the private bank's off shore assets are in Luxembourg and only 0.6 billion euros in Switzerland, a presence that Molesini said was too marginal compared with its sizeable on shore activities.

"To build up an offshore private bank in Switzerland and to serve those customers (in eastern Europe) is for us a very important opportunity," said Molesini.

"We are building a platform but of course we would be delighted to find a bank in order to save time," he said, adding he had not yet found a suitable target.

Intesa Sanpaolo has bought various lenders in the high-growth markets of eastern Europe and has now about 7 million retail clients in the area.  Continued...