UBS Americas teams up with robo-adviser; small business owners the new target market.

Mohamed Mansour’s decision to build his own business to manage his family’s wealth and staff it with seasoned investment bankers was dismissed by some. But six years after its formation, the billionaire’s brainstorm – a hybrid of family office, private equity firm and investment bank – is being praised and even emulated.

UBS’s wealth management chief used a crisis to reinvent the bank’s core business. Even competitors admit that he also took the whole industry in a better direction.

For many of the largest private banks 2015 was a year of restructuring and geographical retrenchment. Only a few global players remain. This year looks set to be just as turbulent, but will clients put up with yet more change?

Low interest rates in emerging Europe are driving less committed players out of the private banking market but giving a boost to regional lenders by enhancing the appeal of investment products.

What’s a wealthy Brazilian to do faced with economic and political turmoil, scandal at one of the country’s leading private banks, and a big change to the tax law? Turn to the undisputed market leader in wealth management, it seems.

India has been a tough market for global wealth managers, ground down by rising costs and regulation. But private wealth is growing fast, offering long-term profit for those with patience and persistence.

The world’s leading private banks still haven’t resolved the conflict between advising their clients and investing their assets. A decade ago, many wanted out of asset management. Now they want back in. The ensuing confusion has left a gap that pure-play asset managers are finally beginning to fill.

Proliferation of smaller firms; compliance and risk costs deter internationals.

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.