One of Europe’s largest pure-play banks, which is controlled by members of Qatar’s ruling family, is expanding a partnership with BlackRock Inc. to bolster its investing services.
Quintet Private Bank’s clients can now access investments in private equity and credit as well as real assets through a collaboration with the global funds giant, according to a statement Wednesday from the Luxembourg-based firm.
The arrangement, which gives the lender full control of allocation decisions, initially covers its customers in Europe and will be available for those in the UK by year-end, Bryan Crawford, Quintet’s group head of investment and client solutions, said in an interview.
“It’s unlocking opportunities,” he said. “We already have clients investing.”
Precision Capital, a holding company for members of Qatar’s Al Thani family, controls Quintet and has injected more than €350 million ($407 million) of capital since acquiring it in 2012 for about €1 billion.
Quintet first partnered with BlackRock in 2023 to access other investment services as the private bank sought to move beyond a loss-making period under new Chief Executive Officer Chris Allen, an HSBC Holdings Plc veteran who joined in 2022.
The private bank’s total client assets were €100.6 billion ($116.9 billion) at year-end, an increase of 16% from the end of 2022. It’s now ramping up hiring plans in Europe.
BlackRock is also expanding in Europe following regulatory changes last year easing access for individuals to invest in private markets through the New York-based firm’s so-called “evergreen” funds.
The asset manager is homing in on private markets as part of its latest growth strategy and recently began rolling out model portfolios to retail wealth clients in the US that include private equity and credit funds.
Founded in 1949 and formerly known as KBL, the Quintet group includes the UK’s Brown Shipley and Germany’s Merck Finck along with namesake entities in other European nations as part of its services for rich families, foundations and external asset managers.
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