The US bank’s decision to hire 2,300 new staff across its Asia wealth franchise, including 1,000 in Hong Kong alone, underlines the strength of the region and CEO Jane Fraser’s clear push in private banking.

The implosion of Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management focused attention on family offices, a fast-growing, lightly regulated and ill-defined investor group. Greater oversight is surely inevitable, as is the evolution of the sector away from small, standalone entities into truly global multi-family wealth managers.

With Greensill and Archegos, António Horta-Osório has more on his plate than a medieval King. But Credit Suisse’s new chair could do something that would placate doubters and please investors: pivot firmly to Asia.

In retreating from onshore private banking in south Asia’s largest market, Citi is following the money, as it seeks to serve the rising number of Indian families fast transferring personal wealth overseas to bigger and more stable markets they know and trust.

The implosion of Archegos has ripped away the veneer of conservatism and safety that the family office has long enjoyed. It has also emphasized the lack of clarity about what the industry is and its lack of oversight.

The Japanese bank has spent big money to hire a wealth management team, but spiralling costs and a lack of name recognition in key markets leave many asking: how realistic are its ambitions?

Francesco de Ferrari gave up a plum private banking job at Credit Suisse to take over troubled AMP. It was always a tough ask. Personnel mis-steps did not help, but in the end there was not going to be much of a business left for him to run.

Buying a 10% stake in China Merchants Bank’s wealth management arm for $415 million gives JPMorgan greater access to China’s vast private wealth market. It is a deal that benefits both parties, and underscores JPMorgan’s quiet but concerted success story in Asia’s largest economy.

Outwardly different, Singapore and Dubai have transformed themselves into international wealth management hubs, overseen by clear-minded regulators. They are now starting to compete for business with Europe’s far older private wealth centres.

The Swiss bank stands apart from its peers. It helped its clients profit, both in the serene waters of 2019 and in the wake left by Covid-19 as it spread across the world in 2020

“I think this crisis has shown why being with a firm focused on wealth management as a primary business and having a global perspective matters to clients,” says Tom Naratil, co-chief executive of UBS global wealth management (GWM) and president of UBS Americas.

Our review period was a difficult one for private banking operations in the region, as it was worldwide: the fourth quarter wiped out huge chunks of revenues and assets for some international and local players, and it was a year that required sound individual advice for clients.

For the second year running Credit Suisse is Latin America’s best bank for wealth management, this year bolstered by the completion of a three-year turnaround across the whole bank.

Household net financial wealth in CEE has roughly doubled since 2006 and private banking and wealth management services are increasingly in demand across the region.

With a new strategy of regionalization, integration and innovation, Credit Suisse’s wealth management business has set itself apart from its peers and brought the ethos of Swiss personalized service to an international platform.