China’s wealthy are growing rapidly in number. But the private banking industry’s capacity to cater for them is still limited, not least because of the restricted range of products on offer and the need to educate clients. In this discussion private banking experts consider prospects for wealth management development in this dynamic economy.

With public spending being cut, wealthy individuals are putting more of their philanthropic dollars to work through social-impact investing. Companies are being set up to provide advice and products, and the private banks need to get on board.

Kathy Merchant is president and chief executive of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, one of some 700 community foundations in the US. Like most community foundations it offers a donor-advised fund product – pools in which local individuals and families invest as part of their federal tax-deductible charitable-giving allowance. The funds are invested in balanced portfolios, and the donors can ask the community foundation to make grants to non-profit organizations when they wish. Four years ago, Merchant started looking at social-impact investing as part of the foundation’s overall community investment strategy. "The idea was that you can make a grant, and then the money is gone, but we have a lot of creative and entrepreneurial people in Cincinnati, so we thought it would be attractive to look for opportunities where they could perhaps make a loan or invest in a local enterprise."

Speak to people involved in philanthropy about impact investing and lots of contradictory phrases are trotted out. "It’s not new, but at the same time it’s very new," is one. "It’s a great opportunity, but there are lots of challenges," is another. For Mario Marconi, managing director and head of family services at UBS, the concept is simpler. "The idea of impact investing is to promote social and environmental good while at the same time applying an investment logic," he says.

A European sovereign debt crisis, looming bank regulation, volatile markets – 2011 was a challenging year for those managing money for the world’s wealthiest individuals. The heads of nine of the largest global private banks discuss how they are navigating the turbulence and what they expect of 2012.

Private banks are looking to help clients move away from the greed-is-good mentality.

Despite emerging markets being heralded as the beacon for growth, CEOs and global heads of private banking at the world’s largest firms tell Euromoney they are still expanding and seeking growth in the US and other developed markets

UBS to pare down investment banking and concentrate on wealth management.

Swiss investment bank axes hundreds more jobs in investment banking to concentrate on the less risky private banking business

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.