Child and family psychologist

How to work with VIP clients and form portfolio service offers
Yuriy Ivanov: “Clients who worked with system engineers began to move to small banks”

DSnews.ua https://www.dsnews.ua/politics/art23357

Monday, December 12, 2005

Small financial institutions are preparing for the upcoming consolidation of the domestic banking system. They are sure that there are a number of untapped niches in the market for them, which are unlikely to interest the system engineers who are lined up for sale today. Medium-sized banks are not going to simply develop at the expense of alternative directions, they are sure that in the next one and a half to two years they will be able to win back clients from larger colleagues. Yuriy Ivanov, the chairman of the board of Aktiv-bank, spoke about the new strategy for the development of small financial institutions in an interview with “DS”.

— Yuriy Fedorovych, what directions will be the priorities for small financial institutions next year?

— Starting from 2000, large banks made an image decision – to enter the retail market. At the same time, some of the largest banks built retail precisely for sales: that is, they fought not so much for the quality of service, but for the number of services and points of sale. By opening many branches, system engineers wanted to show customers that they had captured the market. In my opinion, small financial institutions against this background need to focus on quality of service, and offer not just an individual approach, but also a well-established set of services. For example, we currently have only two programs — “Family Values” and “Money Operator”, for individuals and corporate businesses, respectively. We do not try to offer all 250 services to all clients in a row. We choose what is needed by an individual consumer, offer the service in the right context, that is, we are also consultants.

— How will medium and small financial institutions develop retail without investing serious capital in expanding the branch network?

— Сьогодні, several models of work are implemented in our market in the regions. For example, system banks consider it necessary to actively expand the branch network across the country. We believe that it is more expedient for small financial institutions to develop in a point-by-point manner. And our tactics have already paid off in Kyiv: we have concentrated our branches at transport interchanges and are closing the city with three points of sale. A similar strategy will be applied during the exits in the east and west of our country. In general, in 2006, two branches and ten branches will be created, which will become a kind of mini-banks, with broad powers in the local areas within the framework of the credit limits allocated.

— What exactly will be the focus on in the retail market?

— We will work with VIP clients, who have been the focus so far. As a rule, these are top management of enterprises that are serviced as legal entities. They are provided not only with banking services, but also with everything that consumers need — buying tickets at airports, image support, and forming portfolios of securities. Also identifying the needs of clients, as a business psychological consulting, in which business and psychology are combined to achieve and maintain success. We are quite cautious about expanding the number of VIP clients and carefully study clients who come, as they say, from the street.

The experience of Western countries shows that financial companies should be engaged in mass retail. It is cheaper for them to work with assets – to resell consumer credit portfolios to replenish resources. If banks are engaged in this, then huge costs arise from the calculation of work with each client.

— But competition will soon intensify in this segment. For example, from the beginning of 2006, a new bank “Prestige” is going to start working, which is being created by the former owners of “Aval”, which also plans to focus on working with VIP clients.

— This is simply a huge market, especially taking into account the capital concentrated outside Ukraine. In order to assess it, it is necessary to raise information on how many permits the National Bank has issued for attracting loans from non-residents during this time. About 70% is the return to the country of previously withdrawn private capital that requires specific banking services. And there is almost none of it yet.

We studied various markets – at first, banks almost en masse went into this niche. But today there are literally a few operators left there. After all, it requires very high qualifications of personnel, understanding of managers and shareholders. And most importantly – you cannot make this direction dominant for the bank. This is one of the portfolios that may turn into a large financial company in the future.

— How will the arrival of foreign capital into the banking sector affect small financial institutions?

— We are very glad that large banks are now being involved in the sales process. It will last at least a year and a half. And small financial institutions have already felt the benefits of these sales: clients who were previously served in systemic banks began to come to us. When a client needs operational financing, which he cannot get from a large bank due to its transition to new standards (after the sale to foreigners), the difference in the lending rate of 2–3% does not matter to him and he takes loans from us. That is, small financial institutions compete with each other in a different field – who will be the first to select a client of a large bank.

Сьогодні we are connected only by a limit

lending in one hand, so we cannot afford to lend large programs. It is clear that in our current status we are not able to satisfy the largest enterprises of the country in terms of the volume of resources, but we take up small projects.

— But, having mastered our market, foreigners will be able to conquer clients thanks to cheap resources…

— And we will begin to enter the markets of external borrowing. Сьогодні, large banks attract $100 million at a time, and we will make two exits a year for $10 million. However, we intend to do this not on the largest platforms in the world, but on medium and small ones. I mean the so-called alternative borrowing markets that exist today in Europe (one of the most popular for borrowers from the CIS this year was the section of the London Stock Exchange – AIM. – “DS”). I think that 30% of the resource can be attracted abroad.

— How will medium-sized banks solve the problem of capitalization?

— The problem of capitalization in Ukraine is not only a problem of shareholders, but also of management. You just need to provide a good return on capital, and shareholders will give money. Again, it is profitable for shareholders to invest when banks can make them counter-proposals regarding financing, development of their projects, greater stability and security of businesses. The issue of shareholder success is also important, among other things. Where banking is the main activity and there are no other businesses, increasing capital becomes a problem. However, I believe that it is time for financial institutions to think about independently increasing capital at the expense of their own earnings. For example, from 2007 to 2008 we will increase capital exclusively at the expense of profit. By the end of 2008, the bank plans to have such an equity structure that would consist of 50% of profit and 50% of shareholder investments.

Zhanna Kavun spoke

Article from 2005 with elements of business intuition, at that time foreign banks were entering Ukraine en masse, in 2008-2013 most of them were forced to leave Ukraine
Yuriy Ivanov: “…I will not be surprised if in a few years the reverse process begins and large banks start buying up foreign ones”

Delo.ua https://delo.ua/investgazeta/jurij-ivanov-ja-ne-udivljus-es-265749/

In anticipation of the arrival of foreign capital, Ukrainian banks are actively strengthening their positions. Given the increase in the National Bank’s requirements for capital, bankers have started talking about consolidating colleagues of “one weight category”. This is the scenario for maintaining the competitiveness of small banks that was recently voiced by Serhiy Tigipko. However, this development option is far from the only one. Small banks can survive and occupy one or another niche in the market, having formed an original and popular product portfolio for customers and having strengthened the resource base. How will small banks survive under the new conditions, the chairman of the board of CB “Aktiv-Bank” Yuriy Ivanov told Investgazeta in an interview

— Yuriy Fedorovych, what areas are promising for small banks today? How will “Aktiv-Bank” position itself?

— Positioning in the banking business can be considered from several points of view. First of all, there is functional positioning. According to it, banks can be universal and perform the entire range of operations for all clients, or specialized (investment, mortgage, savings) and focus on clearly defined key competencies and categories of clients. From this point of view, “Aktiv-Bank” is universal. Our portfolio includes a variety of deposit and credit products. Retail and card business, securities transactions, etc. are actively developing. And we would not like to give up all existing opportunities yet, forcing our activities into any framework. As for the purely marketing interpretation of the concept of “positioning”, here it is appropriate to talk about such parameters as rationality, profitability, synergy and innovation. Therefore, I would say that we generate ideas for our clients and help them use these ideas correctly.

— In order to survive in a highly competitive market, you need to stand out from your competitors in some way. What tools are most interesting to a bank today?

— We try to offer products that no one else on the market has. We try to give each of our products a unique individuality, while adapting it to the needs of customers as much as possible. These are the so-called comprehensive customized solutions. They provide consumers with not only services that satisfy their perceived needs, but also opportunities that they do not even suspect.

A clear example is the “Family Values” program. Its goal is to popularize the family lifestyle. Within the framework of this program, customers are offered packages of banking products that are needed at a particular stage of a person’s life. Another promising direction is private banking. In essence, this is a toolkit that ensures the extension of the life of capital, ensuring the financial stability of the family from generation to generation. This market is actively developing today. Therefore, we have developed the corresponding program “Elite Private Capital Service”, the task of which is to establish maximum trusting relationships with customers through exclusive service. Business psychology services in relation to service and sales are also in active demand among customers of these programs.

— Are options for entering regional markets being considered today? How expedient is it for small banks to actively go to the regions?

— Of course, we have our own strategy for developing a branch network in the regions. Its model can be considered the spatial configuration of the Kyiv office network. Kyiv branches are located on the main transport arteries of the capital. And due to this, despite the small number of offices, the bank is available to all clients. As for the all-Ukrainian scale, Aktiv-Bank has two branches – in Donetsk and Lviv. This sets two system-forming elements, united by an inextricable link, which help each other in conducting banking operations. In the future, it is planned to open two more branches in the north and south of Ukraine. After that, the location of the branches will be identical to the location of the offices in Kyiv, that is, four branches will “cover” all of Ukraine. I am deeply convinced that today there is no point in opening a branch somewhere in the “field”, as other banks do, focusing on one large client. This is, firstly, very risky, and secondly, also costly, since in many cases such branches have to be liquidated.

— Сьогодні, banking institutions are actively increasing regulatory capital. How do shareholders of small banks relate to the new regulations? Are the founders of your bank ready for such injections?

— Increasing regulatory capital is an objective process. Fortunately, the chances of winning depend on the weight category of the player not only in sports, but also in business. Our founders are real people who live in the real world and are aware of the need to capitalize business, and most importantly, they are ready for this.

In addition, the capital adequacy level of Aktiv-Bank exceeds the average for the banking system of Ukraine: for example, as of October 1 of this year it was 15.18% (on average for the banking market it is 14.76%), as of November 1 — 18.24%. In October, the bank’s authorized capital was replenished by 1.5 million euros, taking into account the profit earned this year, the bank operates with capital that exceeds the regulatory requirements of the National Bank of Ukraine. The systematic replenishment of the authorized capital allows it to develop at a pace that also exceeds the average level (for the 2004 financial year, the bank grew by 71.4%, while the average growth of assets in the system was 34.2%). Сьогодні, the bank has a clearly defined development strategy that emphasizes the development of the product range, service management, risk management and, of course, an increase in capitalization. The bank’s strategic plan is supported by the founders.

— How necessary is the National Bank’s requirement for the possible transformation of banks into open joint-stock companies?

— The transformation of “banking” LLCs into joint-stock companies is necessary to increase the capitalization of the domestic banking system. In the entire civilized world, shares of financial institutions are “blue chips”, and I see no reason why Ukraine should not follow the same path. Domestic banks are more transparent than most real sector companies. And the appearance of their shares on the stock market would give a new impetus to its development. A bank whose securities are freely traded on the market is not only more expensive, but also inspires greater trust among customers. Therefore, in our Development Strategy, we plan to change the organizational and legal form to an open joint-stock company.

— How can the priorities of small banks change after the entry of foreign capital into the financial system and with the active development of retail?

— The processes of European integration and liberalization of Ukrainian legislation are irreversible. Soon, operators of the Ukrainian financial market will have to learn to work in conditions of global competition. And we will practically see how the theory of natural selection works. If there are about 160 Ukrainian banks on the market now, then with the arrival of “foreigners” there will be about 50 left, which work professionally and qualitatively. Experience shows that even those foreign banking institutions that have acquired our banks have not yet achieved high results in their work. The Ukrainian financial market is incomprehensible to them, they do not know how to work on it. Therefore, I would not be surprised if in a few years the reverse process begins, and the large Ukrainian banks that have survived will start buying up foreign ones that could not adapt to the “peculiarities of national banking”. As for us, with the arrival of non-residents, the bank’s policy will not change globally: we will, as before, offer convenient, affordable products and a good level of service. And we will replenish the resource base by entering the international financial market with Eurobonds and by attracting syndicated loans.

Biography

Date of birth – August 5, 1973.

Career in banking, telecommunications and psychology:

starting in 1996, he worked at JSC “Ukrainian Innovation Bank” as an assistant to the chairman of the bank’s board, secretary of the Board, Supervisory Board;
in 1998, he was appointed head of the credit and economic department of the Obolon branch of JSC “Ukrinbank”;
1999-2000, worked at LLC “Golden Telecom” developing dealer networks in Kyiv and Odessa;
in 2000, he was appointed director of the Kyiv branch of JSC “Ukrainian Innovation Bank”;
2004 – moved to LLC “KB “Aktiv-Bank” as deputy chairman of the bank’s board, in the same year – acting chairman of the board of LLC “KB “Aktiv-Bank”;
in 2005 he became the Chairman of the Board of the bank at LLC “KB “Aktiv-bank” and brought the bank to stable profitable activity with a 10-fold increase in the balance sheet currency in 2 years, the bank became medium-sized from a small one;
since 2007 he has been working in the field of business psychology and trainings;
2008 was the beginning of the development of activities in child psychology, gained experience in working in state and private nurseries, kindergartens and schools, and is conducting private practice;
since 2013 the project “Child and Family Psychologist” was launched;
in 2016 the direction of music therapy was created, the development of TrialPsychology, a new scientific tool for psychological counseling, began.
since 2022 he has been working in three offices: Kyiv, Irpin, Brovary
in 2023 he completed the training of the American Psychological Association “The Role of Psychology in implementation of artificial intelligence”
in 2024, the status of international membership of the American Psychological Association (APA) was obtained

4 higher educations:

1992-1996 KIIGA – systems engineer, black box of passenger aircraft;
1993-1996 KIIGA – production management;
1995-1998 Center-Rynok Institute – law;
2005-2008 SPU – psychology, ontopsychology;