Oliver Selwyn describes Banque Havilland as ‘a family office with a banking licence’. It prides itself on being both ‘pragmatic’ and ‘flexible’, founded with the express intention of being traditional and conservative.
Because the Rowland family has its money in the bank, clients can co-invest with them, something the product-focused big banks can’t offer.
‘We’re not constrained by in-house products or layers and layers of bureaucracy, and we can make decisions very quickly,’ says Selwyn. It was the breadth of his experience and ability which led the family to poach Selwyn from Citi Private Bank in 2013. Spear’s doubts they regret it.