Interviews
Delivering Innovative Wealth Management Solutions
For more than half a century Deltec Bank & Trust has been providing global private banking services to high net worth clients. Deltec Bank & Trust has delivered comprehensive financial solutions and exceptional client support to meet the international wealth management needs of successful individuals, families, and businesses.Since becoming CEO in 2019, Odetta Morton has focused on leveraging Deltec’s unique global network to serve its private and corporate banking clients with an emphasis on efficiency, innovation, and the highest ethical standards.
In the process, Mrs. Morton has made Deltec Bank & Trust an agile, innovative and solutions-driven institution. Deltec has consistently built on its client service, and Mrs. Morton is committed to growing shareholder value by building the bank of the future with access to the most unique network of opportunities for its clients. On the occasion of winning Best Private Bank in the Caribbean 2020
Global Banking & Finance Review interviewed Mrs. Morton, CEO of Deltec Bank & Trust to find out more about the bank and their plans for the future.
Congratulations on your award- winning success. What initiatives do you feel have led to your success?
Thank you.
I attribute our success to the extraordinary talent that extends across our organization. Our success has always been because of the people who work tirelessly to ensure that we give exceptional service to our clients.
As a team, we’re focused on the future, trusting disruption and investing in technology that delivers 24/7 financial solutions. This audacious approach drives our team to offer award-winning wealth management and financial services.
What are the biggest challenges you see taking place right now and how is Deltec Bank & Trust prepared to help clients navigate this difficult time?
Within the last few years, Deltec’s main focus has been to ensure we have a business model that can withstand the pressure of an ever changing financial environment, which is faced with major disruption due to new regulations, a changing customer base, and emerging digital technologies.
These preparations have helped us tremendously to transition to the COVID-19 dilemma we see today. We have been focused on resilience, having developed a robust and tested business continuity plan as part of our enterprise risk management framework as an essential of component of the Bank’s business model.
With our headquarters positioned in a hurricane belt, we are no stranger to facing crises and our enterprise risk management framework has served us well in this unique environment.
Additionally, our conservative strategy serves as one of Deltec’s advantages – with healthy liquidity ratio, no debt, no proprietary trading, zero commercial loans, and no leverage. We remain conservative in our credit policies and commitment to sound capitalization. These prudent practices ensure that there is no threat to the Bank’s sustainability, safety and soundness.
We are well-served by our commitment to and investments in technology to transform the way we work: rapidly responding to this challenge, finding opportunities and quickly scaling effective solutions for our clients.
In our discretionary portfolios, we have ensured that we are in the best possible position to deliver both investment services and ongoing performance in the face of the uncertainty posed by COVID-19.
As the pandemic has unfolded, we have been proactive and agile in our strategic response. Our team has come together with a renewed commitment to confront new challenges to ensure that we thrive in the new normal.
We believe that these times have revealed why Deltec is so special:
- our team is guided by our mission to serve and protect our clients; and
- our commitment and flexibility to rise above the challenges of this moment by solving difficult problems in real time.
How has client’s attitudes towards wealth management changed over the past few years?
With new digital technologies and an always-on culture, clients expect wealth management solutions to be available 24/7. It’s important to add that there is a new generation of clientele emerging- the savvy and empowered digital consumer – who is interacting with their bank in completely new ways.
This is why the role of fintech has become so prominent. Clients want to be more involved in the way their wealth is managed and protected.
At Deltec Bank, we have embraced this and invested in a digital transformation designed to not only provide 24/7 financial services but revolutionize how wealth management and financial services are offered today.
Client relations have always been at the core of your banking operations. Why is this and how do you continue to strengthen these relations?
Quite simply, we provide a network of unique opportunities with white-glove service to our clients. Our approach is two-fold. On one hand, we take the time to understand our clients, their unique situations and we build around that. On the other hand, we have embraced that our service must be available in real-time and available across different time zones. Our technology plays a big role in that. Our clients can interact with us based on their preferences and our expert team of professionals are committed to giving our clients world-class solutions and service.
How do you support clients’ in achieving planning for and achieving their financial goals?
We believe that understanding the financial needs and goals of our clients is one of our most important responsibilities. Whether the client already knows what they require, or would like help developing an appropriate investment and wealth plan, we seek first to understand. This allows our team to more accurately leverage Deltec’s in-house financial and investment expertise and match clients with the right solution for them.
From an investment perspective, we simplify the process for our clients by offering a selection of discretionary model investment portfolios to match their risk profiles. From there our experienced team of investment analysts and portfolio managers make clients capital work for them, applying Deltec’s robust investment framework to investment markets.
Moreover, one of the distinct advantages of Deltec is that we’re a true financial partner to our clients. The Deltec International Group offers diversified solutions, ranging from fund administration, corporate advisory, merchant banking, global insurance to digital asset financial services, therefore at Deltec Bank, we’ve been able to create synergies to match our clients with a wide range of financial solutions.
With over half a century of operations, you are now servicing several generations. What are the challenges in multi-generational wealth management?
Every generation has a distinct set of values, thinking patterns and expectations. For example, we know that the new generation of wealth management clients, which include Gen X and Gen Y, even baby boomers who have been influenced by the younger generation expect to have more control over their finances and are less concerned about authority than previous generations – in fact, they lean on their peers for feedback and advice.
One of the ways we’ve been able to successfully service multi-generational wealth is by being a pioneer in the wealth management industry. At Deltec, we always embrace the future and anticipate what’s next. This approach has positioned the Bank to meet and exceed the expectations of the many generations of clients we serve.
What role is technology playing in the development of services for wealth management?
Technology is changing the way our clients interact with us and enhancing how we deliver financial solutions. We see this transformation happening in many other industries and wealth management is no different.
At Deltec, we’re leveraging technology to provide one of the most advanced wealth management platforms, pioneering models and algorithms for real-time financial solutions based on individual client suitability and preferences. As an international bank, we’ve place priority on 24/7 wealth management and financial services, and technology is the engine behind that.
How does Deltec Bank & Trust support the socio-economic development in the Caribbean?
Deltec Bank has long held strong ties within the local community in The Bahamas through our Deltec Initiatives Foundation, which was designed to foster an environment that empowers young Bahamians to drive positive social impact through the power of arts, entrepreneurship and education.
Since 2013, the foundation has discovered, launched and mentored many talented, motivated and driven Bahamian artists, artisans and entrepreneurs. The Deltec Initiatives Foundation comprises three pillars: The Initiative for the Arts, The Initiative for Young Entrepreneurs and The Initiative for Scholarship & Education.
What can we expect to see from Deltec Bank & Trust over the next 3 years?
Over the next 3 years, I expect to see a complete transformation of wealth management and financial services, and Deltec will be at the forefront of the advanced thinking emanating from the industry. Our technology and processes will provide a model for private banks and wealth managers around the world and deliver even more value to our global clients 24/7.
-
Top Stories4 days ago
French shipping company CMA CGM commits to buy BFM-owner Altice Media
-
Finance4 days ago
Innovation and Customer-Centricity Are Powering the New Finance Industry
-
Top Stories4 days ago
Gold marches higher as US jobs data boosts bets of early rate cut
-
Interviews4 days ago
The Transformative Power of Open Banking for E-commerce: an interview with Anastasija Tenca, Chief Operations Officer at Noda