“Monaco attracts thanks to its stable banking and financial system, and its exceptional quality of life”
To pay Monaco Grandstand, the managing director of CMB looks back with passion on his 33-year career in finance.
In his elegant office located a stone’s throw from the Casino de Monte-Carlo, the managing director of CMB Monaco, Francesco Grosoli, received us to talk about his long career in finance. This enthusiast fell into the pot quite young, during a summer stage precisely. “An internship that lasted for 33 long years”, he likes to tell. It is indeed a real success story that will await the young man who arrived in the Principality at the age of eight.
After completing his schooling in Monaco, Francesco Grosoli turned to Nice to study economics, and landed his first job in 1989.. “I started working for BSI, a Swiss bank which had a small entity in the Principality, he remembers. In 1997, I was recruited by the Republic National Bank of New York which was the leading bank at the time in Monaco. I grew professionally until I learned the role of sales manager. In 2007, I joined the Barclays group, which wanted to relaunch its private banking activity by accepting a new brand called Barclays Wealth. I was CEO and in charge of the EMEA part (Europe, Middle East and Africa). It was finally in 2019 that I left Barclays to join CMB as managing director.”
Adapt to a new world
From Monaco and in a world that is going faster and faster, Francesco Grosoli is also confronted with a series of uncertainties. “We spent 10 or even 12 years in an environment of negative or zero rates, with extremely low inflation. The change of course that is currently taking place is destabilizing everyone a little. » Is this inflation which broke the record of the 80s sustainable? “For the past few days, the US inflation numbers seem to be easing, this means that we will return to a controllable environment shortly”projects the managing director of CMB.
It should be noted, however, that Monaco is a special case, “a very high level microcosm” where residents and customers often have significant purchasing power. “In the luxury and hotel sectors, for example, there has never been so much spending. It’s quite surprising. » The Monegasque also notes “Ultra High Net Worth Customer Sophistication (very rich) ». A clientele which surrounds itself with highly qualified managers and which assists the banks with a certain reactivity.
A few days US inflation numbers seem to be easing, this means we will be back to a controllable environment shortly
The health crisis is also highlighting remote work. Result: many entrepreneurs settle in the Principality with their families. “They manage their business from here whereas a few years ago, our clients returned to Monaco at the end of their careers. Monaco is an attractive land because it offers a stable banking and financial system, but also an exceptional quality of life. I am thinking in particular of security, education and health. »
Since clients are younger, they are also more sensitive to environmental issues and “sustainable finance”. According to Francesco Grosoli, this consisted of “invest while making the world of tomorrow a better place”. Financing alternative energies rather than fossil fuels, for example. “Banks have a role to play, because they are the belts between investors and the real economy. »
Monaco, this melting pot
With more than 30 years of career in the service of the country in the banking and financial sector, Francesco Grosoli admits it willingly: he “keep learning every day”. And even if he celebrated his 56th birthday this year, he will not end his career anytime soon. Because he exercises his profession with passion. “Banking is capital, technology, but also people. Francesco Grosoli is in fact at the head of 250 employees within the bank. He also oversees activity related to CMB’s 3,000 customer relationships on a daily basis.
“I try to be close to my collaborators. I organize a meeting every week around a breakfast to discuss with the main managers of CMB Monaco. I also spend a lot of time in contact with customers,” confides Francesco Grosoli before adding: “In Monaco, I had the chance to meet absolutely extraordinary people. We often talk about the rich heritage of the territory, but too little about its intellectual wealth. Monaco is a melting pot on two square kilometres, which allows a proximity that does not exist anywhere else. »
Despite his busy days, Francesco Grosoli found it a point of honor to spend time with his loved ones. “Even though my wife is more often with our two boys, I always try to find time for my family. I am not a golfer, on the other hand I like travelling, gastronomy and tasting great wines… I am an epicurean at heart “, he slips into a smile. Almost normal for a man of Italian descent, right? “I’ve been here for so long, I would say that I feel my Italian ancestry, but my country of heart is Monaco”replies the leader who was naturalized as a Monegasque this year by the Sovereign Prince.