Switzerland enjoys a bumper year
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“Above all in this business you need patience and that is something you have to learn. Building this sort of business is very different to building a transaction business” Pierre de Weck, Deutsche Bank |
THESE ARE GOOD times to be a private bank in the UK. Private banking and wealth management is booming. London continues to attract the newly mega-rich from such countries as Russia and India. These resident non-domiciled clients are classic private banking clients. Likewise the old money of the landed gentry. But there is also a new generation of entrepreneurs springing up all over the country.
Latest research from McKinsey shows that the industry is enjoying average pre-tax margins of more than 35% and a growth rate twice that of retail banking. Profits in 2005 grew by 23%.
McKinsey also says that there is still big potential for growth, with only about half of the assets of high-net-worth individuals being managed by private banks.
Perry Littleboy, marketing director at Coutts, agrees that there is plenty of business to go around. “There is so much opportunity out there,” he says.