The Private banking and wealth management survey results: Credit Suisse has retained its position as the world’s leading private bank for a third consecutive year, according to Euromoney’s benchmark Global Private Banking Survey, the results of which are released today.
Credit Suisse again beat its Swiss rival UBS into second place. HSBC remained third overall in the global rankings, in which JPMorgan overtook Citi to take fourth place.
Credit Suisse also won the important global categories for relationship management, and privacy & security. It was the best private bank overall in two regions – Western Europe and Central & Eastern Europe – and the leading wealth manager in nine countries.
Hans-Ulrich Meister, chief executive of private banking at Credit Suisse, told Euromoney: “Clients highly value Credit Suisse’s leading capital position, our perspective and our calm, and therefore feel comfortable entrusting their assets to us.”
UBS continues to push Credit Suisse hard. In addition to cementing its second place overall globally, UBS showed the breadth of its wealth management business by winning the most product and client categories globally – 18 in total.
After a difficult few years for UBS group, Juerg Zeltner, chief executive of UBS Wealth Management, told Euromoney the business is well positioned to meet the challenges facing the global private banking industry. “The traditional private banking model is being called into question,” he said. “What people want nowadays is a rapid investment process and an active advisory approach. Wealth management is facing a structural change.”
In addition to retaining its third place overall, HSBC wins in seven global categories, including private banking services for both entrepreneurs and corporate executives. HSBC is again ranked the best private bank in Asia, and displaces Credit Suisse as the best private bank overall in the Middle East.
Santander is one of the big risers in the Euromoney survey. It breaks into the top 10 global private banks overall for the first time, rising from 14th position to eighth. A big part of that improvement comes from its Latin American operations, where Santander leaps from sixth overall regionally to first place.
The Euromoney Private Banking Survey covers more than 30 different product and client categories on a global and regional basis, and has ranking results in close to 100 countries. The results are based on a combination of bank-provided data and peer review.
Some clear trends emerge from this year’s results. Notable among them is the leadership of local private banks in the key global battlegrounds of two of the fastest-growing markets. In China, the top-four overall private banks are local banks. In Brazil, Itaú and BTG Pactual also beat the international competition from Credit Suisse and HSBC, with Santander rounding out the top five.
With global banks facing regulatory and business challenges, local specialist wealth managers are gaining ground in both developed and emerging markets. The exception is in the Middle East, especially in those countries affected by the Arab Spring and the economic downturn, where there has been a clear flight to the safety of international banks. For example, in Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE, no local private banks are ranked in the top five overall.
These trends are analyzed in detail in the editorial coverage accompanying the survey results in the February issue of Euromoney, and released online today. Coverage also includes interviews with the heads of private banking at more than 20 institutions around the world.
Access to the results is strictly limited to subscribers to Euromoney. For more in-depth results and analysis, including for the first time comparative scores in global and regional categories, those interested in the global private banking industry can also purchase Euromoney’s new Global Private Banking Review.
CONTACTS:
To access the results and coverage of Euromoney’s private banking survey, or to order our Global Private Banking Review, contact:
Nicola Baker at nbaker@euromoneyplc.com or call +44 207 779 8754. To access results you may also subscribe online, or contact our subscriptions hotline at hotline@euromoneyplc.com or +44 207 779 8999.
A full methodology is published online. Any other queries about the survey results should be directed to:
Tim Moxon, head of research: tmoxon@euromoney.com or Kalin Trifonov, private banking research: ktrifonov@euromoney.com.