Morgan Stanley is seeking out the niche in the wealth management business that used to belong to Merrill Lynch.

For this survey, private banking is defined as banking services targeted at wealthy clients. The most obvious respondents would be customers, but given their desire for secrecy and the issues of finding a representative sample this was problematic. We have therefore asked the private banks themselves to identify the companies that they admire as the top providers of both competitive and non-competitive services.

According to the heads of the world’s largest and most successful global private banks, the main driver of revenue growth for 2011, and for several years to come, will be rich individuals in Asia and Latin America. So adamant are they that this is where growth lies that the top-10 global private banks aim to add a combined 1,000 or so employees in those regions over the next 12 months.

With the number of high-net-worth Brazilians increasing rapidly, private banking is buoyant but highly competitive. However, customers’ preference for safe fixed-income investments restricts margins and banks are trying to foster more lucrative products. Rob Dwyer reports.

Majority of banks say focus on tax evasion to blame; ‘Secrecy’ now ‘confidentiality’, tax ‘avoidance’ now ‘evasion’?

The private banking industry is coming of age in China, as the number of new millionaires in the country rockets. Foreign and local banks are rushing to offer them wealth management services. Clients have sky-high expectations, and meeting them will be tough.

The financial crisis proved almost as tough for wealth managers as it did for investment bankers. They have worked hard to redeem reputations and improve services. The heads of the world’s eight leading private banks tell Helen Avery how they are giving clients the returns they expect.

Offering third-party products proved no panacea in the financial crisis, yet clients still distrust an exclusively in-house approach. As the focus returns to increasing revenues, private banks are rethinking their models. Helen Avery reports.

Domestic banks and well-established foreign rivals are fighting hard for a share of a high-net-worth asset base expected to grow at double-digit rates. With foreign banks’ involvement in the global crisis fresh in potential clients’ minds, domestic banks might just have the edge. Elliot Wilson reports.

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.