COMPANY IN FOCUS Reyl Singapore Mr. Charles Bok Chief Executive Officer Mr. Charles BokisnewtoSingapore.

e.Herecentlymovedheretospearheadand manage the Singapore branch of the Reyl Group, a Swissbased company in wealthmanagement.Mr.Bokwaspreviouslyworkingat Reylsheadquartersin Geneva. Reylisafamilyownedcompanysetupin1973byMr.DominiqueReyl,founder and president of the company. Today the company is run by the second generation. The founders son, Mr. Franois Reyl, has taken the command as ChiefExecutiveOfficer.The Reyl Grouphasbeengrowingsteadilyandcurrently managesassetsinthevicinityofSGD5billion.Theyemployover100peoplein offices in Geneva, Paris, Luxemburg and now also Singapore. When Mr. Bok startedworkingforReylfouryearsago,therewere30employees. The Reyl Group broadly offers three different kinds of services: private wealth management, inhouse range of Funds and private office services or lifestyle management for the very wealthy. Reyl & Cie (Geneva) is a fullfledged private bank.Thecompanylikestodifferentiateitselfbyitsdedicatedandpersonalized clientrelationships.Theclientsalwaysremainattheforefront. The establishment of Reyl Singapore in 2009 was a natural development and strategicdecisionforthe Reyl GrouptoexpanditsoperationsinAsiainlinewith thecurrenteconomicgrowthandwealthgenerationintheregion.InJune2010 Reyl SingaporehasbeenlicensedbytheMonetaryAuthorityofSingapore(CMS licence of Fund Management). Charles mission is a challenging one. He has startedfromscratchanddevelopednotonlyanewbranchoffice,butalsoanew market altogether. Reyl has some existing clients who were interested to diversifytheirassetsinAsia,sothecompanyisprofitablefromdayone,buttheir main target is to look for new Asian investors. Currently there are 6 people working in the Singapore office, but Mr. Bok is ambitious. His rationale is that Reylcanofferlocalclientstheexpertiseofhighlevel,Swissstyleprivatewealth managementcombinedwithaverydedicatedandhighlyprofessionalstaff. Reyl Singaporeisarelativelysmallplayer,buttheyworkinpartnershipwithtoplevel localbanks.Thatway,Mr.Bokreasons,weofferatthesametimethededicated servicesandpersonalizedcontactofasmallcompanyontheonehandandthe strength and leverageof working with a big company on the other hand. Also, Reyl Singapore can leverage on the strategic and financial resources of the headquartersinGeneva,acitythathasattractedsomeofthebestexpertsinthe business. Thechallengefor Reyl Singaporeisnonethelessbig.Thename Reylisnotknown in Singapore yet and on a first impression Mr. Bok has noticed that Asian

investors seem to be more shortterm oriented and want to make money fast. The new generation however seems to understand that capital preservation is important. One of the challenges that Mr. Bok foresees for Reyl Singapore is to find a balance between improving the quality of their local clients portfolios withoutimposingtheirview. AnotherobservationMr.BokmadeisthatbusinesspeopleinAsiaareextremely motivatedtosucceedandtheenvironmentisverydynamic,butthatatpresent thequalityofservicesintheregionisnotsoimpressive.Thisiswherehesees another opportunity for Reyl Singapore, having ample expertise in highlevel services. Another project Reyl is working on, is offering services to European entrepreneurswhowanttoexpandtheirbusinessabroad.Oneofthestrategies istohelpthemlookforpartners.Inafirstinstance, Reyl Singaporewilladopta pragmaticapproachandconcentrateonnichemarketsratherthenattackingbig markets such as China. In this business, Mr. Bok ads, it is all about building trust and confidence. Some of our clients looked more than ten years for a privatebankertheycouldtrust. Mr. Bok is of Belgian nationality and has a degree in commercial engineering from HECinLiege.Heworkedinfinanceallhislife,startingwith JP Morganand thenFortisinBelgium.In1997hemovedtoGenevawithhiswifeandchildrento workforaDutchcompanyinwealthmanagement, Kempen & Co.Fouryearsago heswitchedtohiscurrentemployer Reyl.Mr.Boklikeshisjobalot,oneofthe reasonsbeingthathehastheopportunitytomeetsomeveryinterestingpeople. Onecommonpointhenoteswiththehighlevelclientsheencountersisthatthey allhaveaveryoutspokenviewandthattheyallhavetakenrisks.Mr.Bokisvery excitedabouthischallengingtaskaheadandeagertoexplorethemarket. IsabelleLeliaert