The Swiss bank confirms, and adds detail to, reports of its collaboration with an Indonesian institution to tap wealth opportunities in the Asian country.

Lombard Odier has confirmed that it is collaborating with Indonesian lender PT Bank Mandiri Tbk, adding more detail to press reports about the move that were given here last week. 

The Geneva-headquartered private bank will support Bank Mandiri’s efforts to develop its private banking arm through investment and family services. A complete offering of onshore discretionary management services will be launched by Bank Mandiri this month, with different risk profiles matching Bank Mandiri’s specific needs for its high net worth and ultra-HNW clients.

“This latest regional partnership with Bank Mandiri, the largest bank in Indonesia in terms of assets, reinforces our commitment to onshore private clients in the Asia region, particularly in Southeast Asia where we see great growth potential in terms of wealth management,” Vincent Magnenat, limited partner and CEO of Asia-Pacific at Lombard Odier, said.

The lender said this collaboration is among a number of alliances with Asian counterparts to have been signed in recent years. Lombard Odier announced similar partnerships with UnionBank in the Philippines in August 2016 and with Kasikornbank in Thailand in December 2014. In addition to these Southeast Asia-focused partnerships, Lombard Odier has also forged alliances with financial firms in mainland China, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Indonesia’s wealth management market has been in flux. A year ago, Indonesia completed a tax amnesty that was said to have brought billions of dollars of wealth back into the country and out of Singapore. As a result, banks that previously ran Indonesian money from the Asian city-state are looking at building onshore presences and services in Indonesia (see here for an interview with executive search firm Huddleston Jones about the issue). In May last year, OCBC, parent of Bank of Singapore, launched onshore private banking in Indonesia through its 85 per cent-owned subsidiary, OCBC NISP. 

A number of banks have made Indonesia-focused appointments in recent months. As reported a few days ago, Citi Private Bank has appointed Simon Kastono as global market manager for Indonesia. He took up the role at the start of this week. VP Bank (Singapore), part of Liechtenstein-headquartered VP Bank, in February appointed Samuel Witjaksono as market head of Indonesia. The hire is part of the firm's strategy to expand in Asia, it said at the time.