Vladimír Hořejší in an in-depth interview

Few sports combine passion with absolute composure and strategic decision-making quite like golf. The same qualities are essential when managing family wealth and corporate finances. In an interview with Golf Digest, Vladimír Hořejší, Chairman of the Management Board of Banka CREDITAS, discusses when it pays to play it safe in business and when to react quickly, why tangible assets matter, and how to build a modern Czech bank with a European reach.

Mr Chairman, golfers know that a rushed swing rarely lands the ball on the green. How important are patience and a cool head in banking?
Whether you are on the golf course or managing assets worth billions, you need composure, a precise plan and the right time horizon. If you give in to short-term fluctuations or panic in the markets, you will miss your target. At Banka CREDITAS, we stick to a proven strategy. We build on stability, transparency and investments in real value. This approach has paid off consistently over the long term. Last year, we posted a record net profit of CZK 4.6 billion.

The Czech banking market is extremely competitive. What makes Banka CREDITAS different?
We are a wholly Czech bank backed by strong domestic capital and a clear ownership structure. CREDITAS is not a faceless, anonymous institution. We are a family-owned bank with a clear vision for future generations. The bank is owned by the family of its founder, Pavel Hubáček, and the business is now managed by his sons. Tomáš Hubáček is responsible for the financial services arm, with banking as its largest component, while David Hubáček oversees real estate and energy. This gives us stability, but above all freedom and speed in decision-making. We understand the Czech business environment, we deal with people openly and directly, and we speak the same language as our partners.

Looking at your group’s investment portfolio, the Hubáček family appears to follow the philosophy that the best investments are those you can actually visit and see for yourself. How does this translate into the bank’s offering?
It is absolutely fundamental to our approach. We leave virtual instruments and speculative bubbles to others. Our clients come to us for security and real, tangible assets. CREDITAS Group, which today manages assets exceeding CZK 325 billion, is built on three solid pillars: financial services, energy and real estate. Our energy division, UCED, is one of the leading energy distributors in the Czech Republic and a leader in decentralised energy. Our development division, CREDITAS Real Estate, builds premium residential and commercial projects. For investors, the proposition is straightforward: they invest with us in sectors that are needed today, tomorrow and twenty years from now. No castles in the air, but real businesses with lasting value. Our clients can go and see all of these assets for themselves.

In golf, every player chooses different clubs to suit their swing. What does your “boutique” approach to corporate banking look like?
Templates do not work in real business. Our bankers visit clients in person. We want to see their operations, understand their business model and build a genuine personal relationship. We can structure financing around the client’s specific needs and, if a project is more complex, we can also involve our subsidiaries across the Group. On top of that, we offer corporate accounts with no fees, competitive individually negotiated FX rates and multi-currency accounts. We want to be a partner that helps companies grow, not an obstacle that makes their lives more difficult with paperwork.

People who have built substantial wealth today are often concerned not only with increasing its nominal value, but above all with protecting it against inflation and geopolitical risks. What investment philosophy makes the most sense in today’s environment?
First and foremost, we need to move away from the idea that there is one universal solution. Managing family or corporate wealth requires a comprehensive perspective and discipline. Successful people understand that chasing extreme short-term returns comes with disproportionate risks they are not prepared to take.

The key is strategic asset allocation based on different time horizons and liquidity needs. At CREDITAS, we believe in dividing a portfolio into three fundamental pillars. The first is immediate liquidity for unexpected opportunities or operating needs. The second is a medium-term component focused on stable returns backed by real assets. The third consists of long-term strategic investments with higher growth potential.

Starting with the first pillar – immediate liquidity – how can cash be managed efficiently today so that it retains its value while remaining available within seconds when an opportunity arises?
We live in a dynamic environment where the ability to respond immediately to market opportunities can provide a major competitive advantage. At the same time, this capital should not simply sit idle in current accounts. That is why we create deposit solutions for our clients that offer attractive interest rates, helping to minimise the impact of inflation without locking their money away for months or years. Our savings products for larger deposits have consistently ranked among the most competitive on the market. We currently offer savings account rates of up to 4.25% per annum on balances of up to CZK 500,000 and 3.3% per annum on balances above CZK 500,000, with no upper deposit limit. We want our clients to know that their readily available reserves are working as hard as possible without compromising their flexibility.

Where should investors allocate funds that they can afford to invest over a longer time horizon?
For medium-term capital, it makes sense to rely on the real economy. For this purpose, we offer corporate bonds and funds focused on energy and real estate. These are sectors with clearly identifiable underlying assets and stable cash flows, offering investors greater peace of mind and predictable returns.

For the longest horizons, typically five to ten years, we recommend exposure to global equity markets. Here, we give clients access to low-cost ETFs managed by some of the world’s largest asset managers. These investments may fluctuate over time, but historically they have been one of the most reliable engines of long-term growth and intergenerational wealth transfer. Another clear competitive advantage of ours is that we charge no entry fees on investment products.

You mentioned international markets. Last year, CREDITAS took a bold step by expanding into Western Europe. How has that move worked out, and where do you go from here?
We acquired MeDirect Group, an online bank with highly successful operations in Belgium and Malta, serving more than 150,000 clients. The acquisition gave us access to the wider European market and the euro area and complements our domestic activities following the integration of Max banka, formerly Expobank. But our European ambitions certainly do not end there. We are currently seeking to enter a bank in Croatia through a joint venture, a transaction that is now going through the regulatory approval process. It shows that CREDITAS has long since moved beyond being merely a local player and has become a confident European financial group with a healthy appetite for further growth.

Private banking is an integral part of any premium bank. How do you define luxury in wealth management?
For us, luxury is not about words. It is about truly exceptional service and attention to detail. For our most demanding private banking clients, we offer a portfolio of exclusive premium cards, ranging from prestigious metal and ceramic Mastercard World Elite cards to a truly unique collector’s Real Gold card made from pure gold. But true luxury is first and foremost about personal time and absolute trust. A CREDITAS private banker is a partner who can take care of any financial or investment need. Our goal is for clients to be able to stop worrying about the management of their wealth, knowing that it is in the best possible hands. They can then spend the time they save on something they enjoy – golf, for example.

That same standard is reflected in your support for major events. CREDITAS is highly visible at prestigious events. How do you decide what to support?
We choose projects that represent outstanding quality, elegance and emotion. We are proud to be the general partner of the FEI Jumping World Cup event in Olomouc, and we became the main partner of MotoGP, helping bring the championship back to the Czech Republic at the newly renamed CREDITAS Autodrom Brno. In culture, we have also been a long-standing supporter of institutions such as the Czech Philharmonic. These are brands and events with international recognition whose hearts and roots remain firmly connected to our country. For our clients, we also organise a golf tournament during the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and offer preferential accommodation rates at our Grandhotel Pupp.

This year has also been something of an anniversary year for Banka CREDITAS, which celebrated 30 years on the Czech market. What does that milestone mean to you?
We celebrated with both our clients and colleagues, and in many ways it was genuinely moving. But we are not slowing down. Thirty years is an important milestone, but for me – and I believe for most of my colleagues as well – it is above all a challenge for the future. We want to continue building a bank that works for its clients, with a strong focus on technological development and expanding our investment offering.

What are you most looking forward to in the near future? What comes next?
I am very much looking forward to the dynamic development of our new digital banking platform, CREDITAS One, which combines cutting-edge technology with maximum ease of use. I am also particularly excited about our new headquarters. In Prague’s Karlín district, we are building a modern, architecturally distinctive and sustainable building that will become the new home of our entire Group. It will be a great place for our people to work and for us to meet our clients. We are growing and expanding, but we remain committed to the values on which we were built: fairness, a personal approach and stability.

The interview was published in Golf Digest.