As chief executive of UBS Wealth management since 2009, and head of what is now clearly the group’s most important business, Jürg Zeltner, looking more youthful than a 25-year veteran of the bank has any right to, speaks to Euromoney as one of the most powerful figures on the UBS group executive board. He is pleased with his division’s re-emergence as an active asset manager, its return to the top of the Euromoney private banking rankings and with the success of its signature discretionary management products for high-net-worth clients. But he is restless to grow and improve the business in various ways, by developing its product mix, revenue streams and client profile.

Two characteristics set UBS apart from other private banks, says Bob McCann, head of UBS Wealth Management Americas. “First, we are truly global. Other banks claim to be, but if you look at their revenue streams they are not balanced internationally, or they are pulling out of international businesses to focus domestically. And second, wealth management is a core business accounting for over 50% of UBS’s total revenues.

The markets had another volatile year in 2012, but there are signs of green shoots for the global economy. The heads of the largest global private banks discuss how they are ensuring that their clients are well-positioned for 2013.

Some $30 trillion will transfer from the baby-boomers to their children and grandchildren in the next 30 years. These younger generations think differently and bank differently. Private banks must adapt their businesses to ensure the money stays with them.

Private banks must pay heed to regulatory and technological change, and changing client attitudes, or face extinction.

In response to the revelations that a senior executive suppressed a damaging report into Barclays Wealth, Alix Prentice, partner in the financial services regulatory team at international law firm Taylor Wessing, predicts that the bank may face action from a UK regulator increasingly focused on suitability and client risk appetite.

The country’s entrepreneurs are increasingly drawing on private bankers’ skills as they seek out new sources of income and ways to pass on wealth to younger family members.

As equity markets founder and Asia’s high-net-worth individuals become more sophisticated, the region’s private banking bid for bonds is driving the international debt markets. Could Asia’s rich professionals be the new Belgian dentists?

Brazil’s wealthy have traditionally based their investments on products tapping the country’s high interest rates. But with rates now much lower private bankers are seeking to persuade their clients to transform their strategies.

Few banks have navigated turbulent times so well, posting record revenues on the back of strong net inflows and rising markets.

JPMorgan Private Bank clients enjoy the best of both worlds: an intimate relationship with a US lender that is allied to the power of a genuinely global financial leader. It is led by Mary Callahan Erdoes.

In the US, JPMorgan has 55 dedicated private banking offices, from Austin to Seattle, and Cincinnati to Fort Lauderdale. Elsewhere, it focuses heavily on serving high and ultra-high net-worth customers in Europe, where it has eight offices, including the UK and Germany, Asia, through Hong Kong and Singapore, and Latin America, with clients served out of Miami, New York and Switzerland.

JPMorgan Private Bank wins this year’s top award, as well as being named the world’s best private bank for ultra-high-net-worth individuals 2023, and the world’s best private bank for investment research 2023.

The global wealth expert has expanded its vision, horizon and profits this year

The great financial innovator shone again in global wealth management.