Intesa Sanpaolo Partners with BlackRock for Digital Wealth Management

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo (OTC:ISNPY), announced a partnership with BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), the world's biggest asset manager and a key shareholder of Intesa, to provide digital wealth management services in Belgium and Luxembourg.

By collaborating with BlackRock, Intesa Sanpaolo's private banking unit, Fideuram, aims to enhance its digital investment offerings for clients in these two countries, with ambitions for further expansion in Europe.

CEO Carlo Messina stated, "This agreement is a perfect fit with our strategy based on the growth of our wealth management business and the development of new digital solutions."

Intesa’s focus remains primarily on Italy, which generates most of its profits. The bank has invested heavily in technology to stimulate growth. Last year, it launched Fideuram Direct, a digital private banking channel aimed at younger customers, positioning itself in a competitive sector increasingly relying on scale to reduce costs.

Messina has indicated that there are no suitable wealth management acquisition targets for Intesa that would add value for shareholders. Intesa faces limitations on domestic expansion due to antitrust laws following its acquisition of smaller competitor UBI in 2020. Additionally, any cross-border transactions, like the prospective acquisition of Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) by rival UniCredit, would lack sufficient cost-cutting benefits without UniCredit's foreign presence, according to Messina.

Earlier this year, Intesa restructured its wealth management operations under seasoned executive Tommaso Corcos, seen as a potential future successor to Messina. On Friday, Intesa announced further simplification of its wealth management divisions, focusing on efficiency.

The bank will consolidate its Eurizon asset management business into one division that handles funds and another division within Fideuram to manage all portfolio management services provided by financial advisors and private bankers.