A focused relaunch

The growth of the UK’s private banking sector over the past few years is persuading more and more institutions to enter the market. Patrick Fletcher talks to David Hazelton about Dexia’s decision to focus on structured products

Late last year, Franco-Belgian bank Dexia relaunched its UK private banking arm after several years of decline. “Prior to the acquisition of Ely Fund Managers in 2001,” says David Hazelton, Dexia’s assistant director of strategic financial planning, “Dexia’s operations in the UK were not focused on private banking. In 2003, plans for a new private banking operation that integrated Ely were finalised, and we launched in autumn 2004.”

The bank hired more staff and refocused the its objectives. “A