In Euromoney’s 14th annual private banking survey, UBS Wealth Management has held on to its reign at the top of the rankings. The Swiss bank ranked as best global private bank overall – as well as in all net-worth categories.
JPMorgan ranked second globally this year, pushing Credit Suisse down to third place. Pictet and Julius Baer also moved up the global top 10 rankings, and Santander made it into the top 10.
Goldman Sachs held on to its position as the best global private bank for investment banking capabilities, while Citi replaced HSBC to become the best private bank for commercial banking capabilities. JPMorgan ousted BlackRock as best private bank globally for asset management, and took UBS’s place as best for research and asset allocation advice.
Regionally, in Western Europe, Pictet, ABN Amro and Julius Baer moved up the top 10 rankings. Raiffeisen Bank International made significant strides in many categories across Central and Eastern Europe, becoming the best overall private bank and best for asset management.
JPMorgan ranked number one in North America and Latin America. Wells Fargo and Citi also made headway in the top 10 US rankings, with the former picking up the award for best commercial banking services for a private bank.
In the Middle East, Credit Suisse remains at the top of the overall rankings, with JPMorgan replacing UBS in second place. In Africa, Standard Chartered jumped into first place overall. In the Nordic region, Nordea sweeps nearly all categories, but concedes to SEB in SRI investments and for international clients. Danske Bank continues its reign for client experience technology in the region.
In Asia, UBS, Credit Suisse and Citi retain the top three places respectively in the overall rankings, while Julius Baer moves up to fourth place. China Merchants Bank rises to fifth place, and ranks first in its country overall, followed by Bank of China.
In categories covering innovation, UBS, Citi and Credit Suisse rank in the top three for both client experience and back office systems. Private bankers say that client experience remains a priority for innovation.
Revenue outlook among private bankers is less positive this year. While 73% of survey participants were expecting higher revenues in 2016, this year only 67% are positive. One fifth of those surveyed expect revenues to remain flat.
Regulatory changes still dominate concerns for the industry. Some 39% of respondents named regulation as the biggest challenge for 2017. And despite competition emerging from robo-advisers, only 6% of respondents listed non-banks as a challenge.
There was a slight uptick in concerns around geopolitical tensions in the year ahead, but that is not stopping expansion plans. Respondents name China, North America and Southeast Asia as the three top regions where their firms plan to invest in the year ahead.
Speaking to Euromoney, UBS Wealth Management’s president Jürg Zeltner offers his views on the challenges and opportunities for wealth managers and private banks in 2017.
“The challenge we face as an industry of top-line growth is very real. You can no longer expect you will be allocated more resources to grow your business,” he says. “You have to be very disciplined and be convinced that what you can generate on those investments is relevant.”
He says this “management of alpha” will be a differentiating factor among private banks in the year ahead.
Other data highlights from the survey
51% of respondents say they will be increasing the number of financial advisers at their firms.
The $5 million to $30 million segment remains the focus for most private banks.
Client-user-experience technology and asset management are the two top priorities for private bank CEOs this year when it comes to investments.
4% of banks say that cyber security requires innovation investment.
More data as well as interviews with the top CEOs of the leading global private banks and philanthropy heads can be found on Euromoney's private-banking channel.
Notes to editors
2017 marks the 14th year of Euromoney’s Private Banking and Wealth Management Survey – the industry’s leading barometer of the world’s best service and product providers to the world’s wealthy. Close to 700 institutions took part in the survey, with 2,951 valid responses, a 12.8% increase on last year.
The survey covers 15 different product and client categories on a global and regional basis, and has ranking results in 70 countries. The results are based on a peer review, and a full methodology is published online.
The trends that are shaping the industry are analysed in detail in the editorial coverage accompanying the survey results, which will be published in the February issue of Euromoney magazine and available online from Thursday on Euromoney’s private-banking channel.
Coverage also includes interviews with the heads of private banking at the largest global wealth management institutions, interviews with the heads of philanthropy at the leading banks worldwide about the new era of giving, and data from the survey.
The awards will be celebrated at a dinner in London on February 22.
Contact details
To access the results and coverage of Euromoney’s Private Banking and Wealth Management Survey, visit:www.euromoney.com/privatebanking
To subscribe to Euromoney magazine and Euromoney.com, and for full access to Euromoney survey results, contact:Patrick McCulloch, patrick.mcculloch@euromoneyplc.com; tel: +44 2890 290402
For editorial questions, contact:Helen Avery, private banking editor, havery@euromoneyny.com
Any other queries about the results should be directed to:Kalin Trifonov, private banking research, ktrifonov@euromoney.com
To book your place at the Private Banking Awards dinner on February 22, contact:Daniel Elton, commercial director, delton@euromoneyplc.com
Banks or clients wanting to view more detailed results and analysis can do so by contacting:Mark Lilley, head of data publishing; mark.lilley@euromoneyplc.com; tel: +34 915 94 60 46