Download Definition of “Boutique” in English

Definition of “Boutique”
in English
Originally, only a small dress shop specializing
in up-market fashion for selected customers.
Then, extended to the financial field to cover
“specialist stockbrokers”.
Now covers any small specialist company,
especially in the financial sector.
It would seem that large entities, by definition,
cannot be or own a boutique.
INDEPENDENCE
is an important aspect which allows :
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Specialization
Personalization
Decision making
Entrepreneurship
Confidentiality
Flexibility
Continuity of client contact
SPECIALISATION
While large entities have their specialist
departments and have a much wider access
than any boutique, the boutique is more
effective in producing information and also has
access to all the same information as the
larger entity.
Furthermore, a specialized boutique will
receive more client inquiries than a large
generalist entity and can charge more, in most
cases, because of their “uniqueness”.
PERSONALISATION
More attention is paid to individual accounts in
a small entity both in terms of personal
service and in the professional services
offered.
In a larger institution there is an unavoidable
tendency to categorize and “computerize” the
clientele with the effect of losing the individual
touch.
DECISION-MAKING
A large entity is compelled to lay down policy
rules on advisory and decisions, which become
procedural. A boutique can react freely and
immediately to given situations and because of its
small size can apply them speedily.
For example, in most investment boutiques, the
carrying out of an investment decision and its result
can be executed on the spot. In a larger firm, it must
pass through one or more departments such as credit,
trading, administrative…
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
There is much more scope in a small
(one man) boutique to investigate new ideas
and ways of doing business which is
impossible in a large entity with fixed
procedures and rules.
A larger boutique will start to run into
the same kind of problems as a big bank,
where free thinking has to be discouraged.
CONFIDENTIALITY
A large entity may have to have a
minimum of ten to twenty employees having
access to all the clients private situations.
In a boutique, this is usually reduced to
two even one person only and this factor
alone is a decision element for clientele.
FLEXIBILITY
The large banks make great efforts to
meet the extra demands of large customers
but this is difficult in the context of a big
administrative organisation.
Boutiques do not have this problem.
CONTINUITY
This is one of the greatest advantages of
boutiques – where the customer is assured of
continuity in his relationship. It is a statistical fact that
boutique employees change less than larger, more
impersonal ones.
I have had numerous examples of this – on
that sticks out significantly – a customer for ten years
in a large bank who went through three excellent
employees, each of which was promoted before his
second meeting. He finally ended up with a
permanent one – who did not get promoted because…
Where boutiques should not compete
and the advantages of outsourcing.
The less a small outfit spreads itself,
the more effective its specialist aspect will
be. These functions will normally not require
expertise but will require trust and
coordination with the outsource.
Examples of this are:
a) generalist investment advice
b) receipt of market information and analysis
c) updating of changes in the markets and prices
d) marketing
e) come back office tasks such as accounting
f) increase of the use of regular brokers
But in the fields of boutique investment,
it is the banks who increasingly have a
problem competing with larger entities. The
larger the entity, the greater the requirement
of an independent individual.
Recognition of this is always slow and
the person or individual who does recognise it
first has a distinct advantage.
OBJECTIVITY
One of the more important, more
indefinable
and
less
accepted
advantages of a boutique over a large
finance company, stockbroker or entity.
OBJECTIVITY
A boutique by definition must be independent and not owned or
controlled by a larger entity. Especially in finance, this should
give it an invisible advantage on advisory as being a free agent in
the market and in particular:
On structure:
- corporate
- social
On investment:
- No conflicts of interest
- Choices of broker and bank
- Greater discretion
- Overall picture e.g. Where there
are 2 + bank accounts