The story
BTG Pactual began in 1983 in Rio de Janeiro as the brokerage firm Pactual DTVM, when its initial and primary activity was proprietary trading and securities sales and trading. In 1986, the asset management and investment bank areas were created. In 1989, the bank opened its São Paulo's office and started the internationalization of operations. Eleven years after the foundation, the bank started the wealth management activities.
In 1998, the company replaced its executive officers with a team led by André Esteves, Eduardo Plass, Marcelo Serfaty and Gilberto Sayão, and acquired Banco Bamerindus. In 2000, the bank opened Pactual Asset Management S.A. DTVM and an office in Cayman Islands. In 2003, the expansion continued with
offices in Belo Horizonte and Recife.
In 2006, the UBS bought Banco Pactual for US$2.5 billion and created UBS Pactual, André Esteves became CEO of all UBS' Latin American operations. Two years later, Esteves left the bank to found BTG (Banking and Trading Group ) Investments with nine other founding partners of UBS and UBS Pactual, including Pérsio Arida, a former president of the Brazilian Central Bank. In 2009, BTG bought out UBS shareholders and created Banco BTG Pactual. The following year the bank issued US$1.8bn in capital, representing 18.65%, to a group of international investors and partners. In 2011, they acquired 51.00% of Banco PanAmericano shares. In 2012, BTG Pactual bought brokerages in Chile and Colombia, Celfin Capital and Bolsa y Renta, and held an initial public offering (IPO) raising R$3.65 billion, making it one of the 20 biggest companies listed on the B3.
In 2013, the bank, through its subsidiary BTG Pactual Timberland Investments Group LLC, acquired forest asset management contracts from Regions Timberland Group, a division of Regions Bank, the acquisition expanding its investment in forest assets. The deal established BTG Pactual as the biggest independent forest asset manager in Latin America and one of the biggest in the world, with assets of US$3bn and a portfolio of 716,000 hectares of land in North America, Latin America, Europe and Africa. In 2014, it made two acquisitions in Europe: British reinsurer Ariel Re bought for an undisclosed amount, and also Swiss bank BSI, for US$1.7 billion.
In 2017, BTG Pactual bought shares of companies such Anheuser-Busch InBev, Fibria Celulose, Gerdau, Staples and Telefónica Brasil.
Recent history and expansion (2020–present)
Since 2020, BTG Pactual has significantly expanded its presence in the retail banking and digital investment sectors. In 2020, the bank launched BTG+, a full-service digital retail bank, integrating it with its existing BTG Pactual Digital platform to compete in the fintech and retail markets.
Between 2021 and 2026, the bank executed a series of strategic acquisitions to diversify its revenue streams and internationalize its operations: Retail and Wealth Management; International Expansion; and Financial Performance.
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It acquired several Brazilian brokerages and wealth management firms, including Necton Investimentos (2020), Elite Investimentos (2021), and Universa (2021).
In 2021, Esteves and Sallouti, the bank's chairman and CEO, respectively, founded the Institute of Technology and Leadership (Instituto de Tecnologia e Liderança) with institutional support from BTG Pactual, to offer higher education to students in the Technology area, with an emphasis on Computing, Business, and Leadership.
In 2024, BTG Pactual expanded its US wealth management operations by acquiring Greytown Advisors, a Miami-based multi-family office with approximately US$1 billion in assets under management. In December 2025, the Federal Reserve Board approved BTG Pactual's acquisition of M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB, in New York. The acquisition was completed at the end of 2025, and the institution was converted into a national bank and renamed BTG Pactual Bank, N.A. The transaction enabled the group to accept deposits and extend credit directly in the United States. It also acquired the wealth management operations of Julius Baer in several Latin American markets.
Following the acquisition, BTG Pactual continued expanding its US banking operations. The group had more than 280 employees in the country, with offices in New York and Miami, and was increasing its headcount to support the growth of its wealth management and international banking businesses. The group also continued expanding its US team in 2026.
In 2026, the bank's Timberland Investment Group (TIG) announced the acquisition of over 107,000 acres of timberlands in Virginia, USA, further establishing its position as one of the world's largest independent forest asset managers.
From Wikipedia’s article on BTG Pactual, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5