Marc Lansonneur of Societe Generale Private Banking explains the typical role of someone who runs regional investment and product teams, including the skills and processes involved to be successful.

Date: Apr 2012

Tags: Investment, Value proposition

• A typical day in Marc Lansonneur’s role starts with reading about what has happened in the markets, to make sure his convictions in relation to his investments still hold true
• He said he has seen the industry changing significantly in recent years, in particular in terms of investments and the way that investment strategies are communicated
• The main skills for Lansonneur’s role involve listening, analysing what clients want, and asking clients the right questions to get the right answers

According Marc Lansonneur in an interview, in a typical day in his role the first thing he does in the morning is to read about what has happened in the markets, to make sure his convictions in relation to his investments still hold true.

After this, he said he discusses developments with his team of advises, asset managers and dealers in collaboration with the relationship managers (RMs) to be convinced of the investment views.

The decision-making process

Lansonneur said that the firm doesn’t take a product approach. Instead, the way it communicates its investment strategy and advice to its RMs is through investment themes.

The firm then proposes how to play the various scenarios by looking at each asset class to determine the different equities, funds, fixed income instruments and currencies for each strategy.

The next stage is giving to each RM material to discuss the strategies with clients, to give them their required analysis of market events and outlook, and how these translate into investments and other opportunities today.

A changing role

Lansonneur said his background is investment banking, where he worked for 19 years before joining the private banking industry four years ago, in 2008.

He said he has seen the industry changing significantly in this time, in particular in terms of investments and the way that investment strategies are communicated, along with the regulators’ points of view – all in a short period of time.

These changes have created a lot of constraints, but Lansonneur said that banks can differentiate themselves in the eyes of clients and competitors through their service.

Key skills for this role

According to Lansonneur, the main skills for his role involve listening, analysing what clients want, and asking clients the right questions to get the right answers.

It is not only about trying to create the best products, he explained, but rather providing the right products for the right demand.