PWM/The Banker Private Banking Awards 2018

As we mark the 10th anniversary of the PWM/The Banker Global Private Banking Awards, a broader range of competitors for the top accolades is emerging. UBS remains one of the strongest wealth managers globally, able to compete not just in a handful of categories, but across most niches and territories. But Citi has had an extremely strong showing, unseating the Swiss giant and narrowly pinching the global crown.

This is partly testament to Citi’s foresight in responding to the global financial crisis of 2008 by imbedding private banking within its institutional division. This enabled the US bank to offer capital markets expertise and equity trading from neighbouring departments, rather than across deep internal divides. 

But it is also part of a broader wave of US banks, including JPMorgan, that are enjoying a renaissance in private banking. The latter has also hit the jackpot, winning prizes in the US, Latin American and ultra-high-net-worth categories. 

Widening ambitions

Many of these institutions have shown much broader global ambition at a time when European banks have scaled down internationally. Witness top-tier wealth servicing specialist Northern Trust, which has scooped the coveted family office award as well as a customer service prize. It is starting to test waters in Europe, where it feels products, asset allocation services and technology pioneered in North America might be ready for a newer, fresher hearing.

UBS has merged global and American wealth management operations, so that it can leverage US expertise across the whole group. 

But it is too early to say what effect this will have on Swiss-style private banking, which was so successful under long-time boss Juerg Zeltner, recently replaced by Martin Blessing, formerly at Commerzbank.  

Will Eurocentric notions of service and investment be trumped by a brasher, US-led product push culture at UBS? According to awards judge Ray Soudah, founding partner at MilleniumAssociates, private banking at UBS is being further standardised as costs are cut and flexibility lost. 

This change in structure – an increasing global consistency of services – could prove the biggest challenge, says Alois Pirker, head of research at Aite Group in Boston. “The firm has to be careful not to rationalise away those elements that make its regional units appear to be domestic,” he adds. “If that transformation is successful, I am certain UBS will be back in the top spot again.”

Strength in tradition

It is certainly far too early to lament the death of traditional private banking, based on Swiss values. The UBS global ultra-high-net-worth nerve centre still operates out of Zurich. Credit Suisse is also deepening its footprint in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, where old rival UBS was top dog for so long. 

Pictet and Lombard Odier, two traditional white-gloved private banks, continue to trailblaze in Europe, with Pictet considered a real heavyweight in both Switzerland and Europe more broadly, despite its medium size compared with global giants. Lombard Odier clinched accolades for branding and customer service, reflecting an increased emphasis on brand and customer experience, as pointed out by Helen Westropp, managing partner at consultancy Coley Porter Bell.

Other European banks such as BNP Paribas and Société Générale continue to innovate at home and across the continent. With BNP Paribas winning the newly launched award for working with millennial clients, and Société Générale also active in this sphere, topping the league for succession planning, there is evidence that Europe’s banks are refocusing and staying abreast of key demographic and market trends. 

Continental bank LGT has clinched crucial awards for growth strategy and alternative investments. UBP’s CEO Guy de Picciotto is rewarded for his leadership abilities, mainly relating to an ambitious and well-executed growth plan.

Old hands, new tricks

Some old faces are also coming in from the cold. HSBC has long been a strong player in Hong Kong, where its iconic headquarters is a stalwart of the territory’s dramatic skyline. But its triumph in the UK private banking market shows banks that make concerted efforts to reshape offers, shake off anachronistic ways of doing business and create new legacies without historic baggage can reap the rewards.

In Asia, European banks continue to be strong, but indigenous players such as DBS, which has won an incredible four awards in 2018, for the top innovator, the best regional bank, the best in Singapore and best for client service, show that a new landscape is fast taking shape under the feet of local and global competitors.

The concerted efforts of banks to thrive in specialist sub-sectors are highlighted by family wealth adviser and former private banking leader Gerard Aquillina naming Northern Trust, JPMorgan and UBP for prowess in alternative investments. He also singles out Coutts for succeeding in the sports and media sectors.

“The shrinking wealth management sector in Europe is making the industry even more competitive and creates high pressure on private banks to distinguish themselves in certain niche areas such as sustainability, real assets and crypto-currencies,” says Shelby du Pasquier, head of financial services at Geneva law firm Lenz & Staehelin. 

Identifying differentiating factors and seeing them through to maturity is a major challenge for private banks, says Sebastian Dovey, board adviser to wealth firms. Philanthropy and impact investing are two such fields where banks are failing to see a fundamental shift in client demand, he believes, adding: “Both these activities are catalytic to the operating model and also can be commercially hugely relevant. But they are not overnight unicorns.”

Focus on diversity

Diversity is another area through which private banks can hope to gain commercial advantage. Deutsche Bank’s wealth management division has won hands down in this new category. Our judges report the importance of diversity and its influence on successful business models is almost totally ignored or underestimated by private banks, although most will be forced to “follow suit” when a handful successfully tackle this key “global issue”. 

“There is a huge intergenerational transfer of wealth coming. Those banks who just talked to patriarchs will only get what’s coming to them when the widow recalls the male private banker always talked to the husband when they met,” says Mr Aquillina. 

While efforts have been made to address female clients and approach large and wealthy gay communities, banks need to recognise more diversity is needed in their workforces. “In my experience, the best private bankers are women,” says Kim Cornwall, CEO of training consultancy Cornwall & Co Consulting, which is active in Europe and the Middle East. “They work harder, have greater empathy and take fewer big risks.”

Consolidation will continue despite this increased competition, as profitability is squeezed by rising costs in compliance and remuneration. “The national consolidation will happen in most markets at the retail business level and private banking divisions will be dragged along, resulting in half-a-dozen or less major players” active across the EU, says Mr Soudah, with technology proving the key driver of the move. 

Dealing with transgressors

The judging panel decided to clamp down heavily on any rule-breakers in the banking world, declaring a ‘zero tolerance’ of money laundering and other serious legal transgressions, which knocked several key contenders out of the ranking for our awards. 

The prevalence of such practices was a matter for heated debate among our judges. Mr Soudah suggested incidents of money laundering have been falling in recent years as scrutiny increases, with legal capital flight sometimes confused with more suspicious activities.

Although regulatory clampdowns have been widespread, the lack of custodial sentences sends the wrong message to the private banking community, says Amin Rajan, founder of the Create consultancy.

“The only thing that would stop money laundering would be to send the individuals concerned to jail,” he says. “Simply imposing large fines on the banks will not change behaviours. Financial crimes should be treated like normal crimes, not civil offences.”

Critical to this new environment, believes Mr Dovey, is how the leadership of private banks responds to these compliance challenges. 

• Best global private bank
• Best global private bank for customer service
• Winner: Citi Private Bank

Citi has won the coveted crown, so often snatched by Swiss rival UBS, for best global private bank, mainly due to its resilience and growth after the global financial crisis, when so many of its rivals floundered.

In addition to the healthy balance sheet key to Citi’s growth – including a phenomenal haul of $42bn in net new money in 2017 – has been the incorporation of private banking into its division serving institutional clients. Rather than looking as if private bankers have brought in the investment banking arm to sell more capital markets products to clients, it appears more like that they have brought in knowledgeable partners to help solve problems, tackle business growth challenges and offer advice. 

Consultants say Citi is one of the few banks to get this formula right, with the link between investment and private banking often looking more natural and less forced than the ‘one bank’ structure espoused by the Swiss giants.

In the ultra-high-net-worth space on which Citi concentrates, it is always at the table when potential customers are looking for banks to pitch for their business. Not only does it have long-standing expertise in alternative investments and trading, but also a desire to help clients purchase property in hot spots such as New York, London and European and Asian capitals, where it can be hard to move quickly and find value. 

Citi has also got it right in recruitment, it has communicated effectively with wealthy clients through mechanisms such as its ‘theme machine’, which uses big data to identify long-term investment themes, and most of all it has managed to effectively combine the human and digital elements of the client offer. It was one of the first private banks to digitalise effectively, devoting both staff and financial resources to establishing ‘customer journeys’ and ‘customer experiences’ – noble pioneering sentiments, since reduced to derogative clichés in private banking circles, having been devalued by mass adoption.

The one chink in Citi’s armour, say observers, is its reluctance to mobilise the brand across all client segments outside the US – thus hiving off the private bank from retail and high-net-worth outlets, refusing to countenance any career mobility between the units, and insisting private bankers are a special breed, linked only to their investment banking cousins. While this elitism irks some, the policy seems to have worked so far. 

• Best private bank in Europe
• Best private bank in Switzerland
• Winner: Pictet

One might think that a bank founded in the year Napoleon defeated the Austrians and Russians at Austerlitz, and 19 years before Beethoven finished his final symphony, would be inherently conservative and resistant to change.

But this is false logic: the truth is precisely the opposite. Any institution incapable of embracing changes in which it could see value would have died out over the centuries. As Heinrich Adami, head of private banking at Pictet Wealth Management in London, notes: “We like to say that innovation is our oldest tradition. Our history would not span over 213 years if we had not been able to innovate and continuously adapt to evolving environments.”

An example is Pictet’s early adoption of thematic strategies before they became popular. Its Water fund was launched in 2000; SmartCity, its latest, was introduced in 2018. Being a pioneer in thematic strategies is extremely hard because at the early stage it is hard to separate long-lasting themes from fads. However, the longevity of some of the bank’s themed funds shows it has judged well. A more recent example of technological innovation is the Wealth app, which allows clients to access their portfolios, positions, transactions and documents in real time. 

On the other hand, it is possible to be both innovative and cautious at the same time. Clients still remember, and are grateful for, the private bank’s cautious positioning ahead of the 2008 crash, which led to stellar outperformance at the worst point of the crisis compared with its peers. Observers often used to credit Pictet’s cautious approach to investment to the unlimited liability of its partners. Yet the company has certainly done nothing rash since unlimited liability ended in 2014, and clients will hope that this break with tradition will not alter its approach to risk in the long term.

The wealth manager’s approach has proved popular with prospective clients as well as existing ones, enabling it to grow. The number of staff in wealth management at Pictet within the EU has increased from 405 in 2015 to 488 in the first quarter of 2018, with a rise in Switzerland over the same period from 482 to 562, as Pictet’s expansion continues. The wealth manager has also seen strong recent growth in Asia.

Asked what he thinks clients value about Pictet, Mr Adami cites various factors, including performance, its financial independence from larger banking groups, and “a culture of service, emphasising the understanding of clients’ needs first, away from a short-term product-selling approach”. This chimes with the private bank’s wider reputation in the market, and differs from the emphasis of some private banks on hawking their own funds.

• Best private bank in central and eastern Europe
• Best private bank in Austria
• Winner: Erste Bank

Christoph Kampitsch, head of private banking at Erste Group, has maintained the unit’s leading market position in Austria in particular, and in central and eastern Europe as a whole, increasing the number of private clients by 15% in 2017 to above 18,500, with a growth in assets under management of 20% to €21bn. But the division is equally proud of George. 

This is the rather un-Austrian name given to the group’s state-of-the-art online banking platform, developed by Erste Group Bank’s in-house fintech team. George allows each client to create their own version of the platform, tailored to their specific banking needs. Although George is a mass-market product offered to the group’s clients in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the private bank also offers an interactive reporting tool that enables it to address clients in a timely way with new offerings, market updates and additional valuable information. The private bank has also newly introduced a MiFID II-compliant tool for its clients, known as the Digital Advisory Workbench. 

The importance of such technological innovations is sometimes underrated by the often conservative private banking industry, whose senior ranks tend to be occupied by men in their 50s and early 60s who came of age long before the digital revolution. But though clients like innovations that provide convenience, they themselves are often conservative in other ways. 

In 2017, the private bank’s implicit understanding of this conservatism did much to drive its successful absorption of Citigroup’s private bank in Hungary (a country that accounted for 30% of new clients for Erste’s private bank as a whole in 2017), with another 49% from Austria.

Erste cites several reasons behind the ‘almost zero’ level of churn in Hungary. It says it offered the full range of products and services previously accessible at Citi, thus keeping clients “in their comfort zone”. However, it also offered new products, including a wider range of Hungarian funds, special tranches of Hungarian government bonds dedicated to private individuals, and mortgage loans. 

• Best private bank in the Middle East
• Best private bank in Qatar
• Best private bank in Russia
• Winner: Credit Suisse

While Credit Suisse competes mainly with other larger global banks, the Zurich-based player, overseeing SFr784bn ($787bn) in assets in its private banking arm, is increasingly coming up against a new group of rivals.

“We are increasingly offering local solutions to our clients, so we are gradually entering the space where we compete more with local banks,” says a Credit Suisse spokesman.

The Russian market has been a key priority region, where Credit Suisse prides itself in having offered an “uninterrupted presence in the market” since the early 1990s, and offers the services of more than 250 relationship managers and specialists.

“In the environment of economic turmoil combined with increasing regulatory complexity and challenging cross-border requirements, we ensure continuous monitoring of the market and development of a deep understanding of the requirements,” says the spokesman. “This allows us to provide a solid platform for our customised service and unique product solutions for Russian clients.”

Many Russian clients use the Swiss bank as their core banking relationship to meet both corporate and private family needs. These client needs are well served by a holistic ‘one bank’ approach, Credit Suisse claims. It is a business model currently being closely scrutinised by shareholders and international investors.

Enhanced due diligence, practised by the bank in all emerging markets, has been particularly important in Russia, with an international sanctions regime to comply with, against a backdrop of geopolitical unrest and some prominent money-laundering cases.

“Continuous monitoring of the market by our Russia-dedicated business and controlling functions allows us to dynamically adjust policies and procedures for on-boarding and maintenance of client relationships,” says the bank. 

• Best private bank in Asia
• Best private bank in Singapore
• Best private bank for customer service (Asia)
• Best private bank for innovation
• Winner: DBS Bank

DBS Bank is fast rising from being a national champion in Singapore to more of a regional leader in pan-Asian wealth management, praised for its innovation in digital technology. It now manages $108bn in wealth across the Asia region.

Recent highlights include: the roll-out of its iWealth ‘full-suite digital wealth management platform’, the incorporation of portfolio and performance analysis tailored to individual preferences, 24-hour access to markets and the latest research, and new enhancements in online foreign exchange trading.

Whereas previous innovations have concentrated on the digitisation of processes, the easing of trading and payments for clients, the creation of easy-to-use smartphone apps and the research and use of big data analysis in its servicing of customers, there is now a concerted effort to pioneer new investment strategies.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria for investment portfolios are now firmly in the sights of Su Shan Tan, group head of wealth management and consumer banking at DBS. Ms Tan has previously focused on serving customers and offering them market-leading advice. Providing them with access to a socially conscious investment agenda could be a valuable new string to the bank’s bow.

“We want to lead in the ESG and impact investing space,” says Ms Tan. “This year we have made great strides in educating our staff and clients that doing good can, and should, be good business. One does not exclude the other.”

The belief at her bank is that as more and more wealth in Asia transfers from one generation to the next, millennials will invest as much for good as for profits.

“They wish to invest in companies that do business in a responsible, sustainable and impactful manner. In addition, more and more indices are being benchmarked to be ESG compliant, hence we have seen more flows automatically channelling into ESG-compliant component stocks,” says Ms Tan.

The bank has launched a suite of products playing to this new theme. These include the Women’s Livelihood Bond, which has helped offer 385,000 women in south-east Asia access to credit, markets and affordable goods, and the ‘ESG outperformance warrant and note’, investing in the MSCI Asia ESG Leaders Index, while simultaneously shorting the MSCI Emerging Markets Asia Index.

DBS continues to add staff, with a focus on onshore markets and the ‘domestication’ of wealth, boosted by its acquisition of ANZ’s wealth management franchise in Taiwan and Indonesia. India and China will also see key future initiatives from the bank, with Hong Kong’s increased connectivity to China through the Greater Bay Area initiative considered a key stimulus for wealth creation. 

• Best private bank in Latin America
• Best private bank in the US
• Best private bank for UHNW clients
• Winner: JPMorgan Private Bank

JPMorgan enjoyed a strong financial performance in 2017, with $39bn in net new money helping boost client assets to $526bn, the large majority of which was sourced from North America and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. 

Underlying these results is a focus on client advice and a “comprehensive approach to managing clients’ wealth across both sides of their balance sheets”, according to Kelly Coffey, CEO, US private bank, at JPMorgan.

The global private bank’s offering spans day-to-day banking needs, lending, investing, trust and estate planning, as well as philanthropy. Under the umbrella of JPMorgan Chase, wealthy clients have access to asset management, investment banking and commercial banking capabilities, with the institution continuing to strengthen the relationship across these businesses. 

“By helping clients across more areas of their financial lives we can build better, more integrated solutions that meet all of their wealth management needs,” says Ms Coffey. 

Increasingly, managing clients’ wealth means helping them meet their goals. “Understanding our clients’ goals and intent for their wealth allows us to help them plan and invest for better outcomes, in line with how they think about their wealth, both in the short and long term,” she says. A goals-based strategy also covers lifestyle and spending goals, wealth to leave to beneficiaries, wealth preservation across generations, and growth. 

When it comes to asset allocation, alternative investments are a priority. “Clients have a need for alternative investments more than ever,” says Adam Tejpaul, CEO, Latin America private bank, at JPMorgan.

In this space, the bank is pursuing areas of growth and innovation to tap into parts of the global economy supported by long-term, secular trends, including technology and healthcare. It is also looking for opportunities to invest in assets generating yield, either from the private debt of mid-market corporates, or real assets across different geographies. “Given the length of the current cycle, we are slowly starting to set aside some dry powder that we could deploy in areas that could face a more challenging period in the next few years, whether through managers focused on distress or deep value,” says Mr Tejpaul.

• Best private bank in Andorra
• Winner: Crèdit Andorrà

In recent years, Andorra’s small but strong banking sector has directed efforts to adapt to international standards of transparency and co-operation.

Crèdit Andorrà has been at the forefront of such efforts. The transformation plan it has put into action has enabled the bank to move forward and adapt to the new regulatory framework in Andorra and internationally.

“Andorra’s financial sector has always sought to preserve trust and reputation, which is why during recent years major steps have been taken with the utmost commitment to transparency and international homologation,” says Xavier Cornella, Crèdit Andorrà’s CEO. “The soundness of the sector is endorsed by its strength and consolidation, with high solvency and liquidity ratios.”

Crèdit Andorrà has a presence in Andorra, Europe, the US and Latin America, offering private banking and asset management business with the aim of providing clients with “the best boutique solutions with a personalised approach, as well as a new digital private banking model”. 

For Mr Cornella, one of its main competitive advantages is the bank’s approach to technology and innovation. “We have managed to harness innovation and technology as tools to help us drive the customisation of our private banking model closer to digitalisation. We have promoted an innovation plan in our business model, enabling us to bring added value by creating new digital services, and transforming the traditional advisory model,” he says.

One example is the launch of Merkaat, Andorra’s first digital investment adviser. This digital service enables customers to manage their investments by accessing customised advice and investment proposals based on their risk profile and preferences and, at the same time, by giving them the option to instantly execute buy and sell orders for investment funds.

“In short, our goal is to sustain the balance between business leadership in Andorra and the international expansion strategy, and to achieve this by means of three strategic levers: innovation, technology and dedication to service,” says Mr Cornella. 

• Best private bank in Australia
• Winner: BT Private Wealth

Good relationship managers at private banks develop an instinctive understanding of the psychology of their clients after a while, but BT Private Wealth has gone further than this.

Using an external research house, it has surveyed a number of high-net-worth (HNW) individuals, both among its client base and outside, to determine the psychological profile of the typical wealthy Australian. Based on this research, it has identified that HNW clients tend to be more self-directed in nature (rather than ‘delegators’). Specifically, 60% to 70% of HNW clients demonstrate the characteristics of a ‘controller’ – broadly speaking, someone who likes to shape their own destiny.

The private bank has used this insight to develop a flexible engagement model, which it calls ‘Advice on Your Terms’. This involves offering a range of services, including not only comprehensive personal advice through strategic wealth advisers, but also execution-only services.

BT Private Wealth, part of Australia’s Westpac banking group, has certainly followed an approach popular with Australia’s well-heeled. Client numbers have risen sharply in the two years to 2017, with an even greater rise in assets under management.

The private bank has been keen on investment themes. Sam Bradley, director of BT Private Wealth in Barangaroo, says a popular theme with clients at the moment is cyber-security, with companies spending more money as they seek to protect client data and privacy. Clients are selecting cyber-security equities in the US, as well as exchange-traded funds focused on this theme. 

Customers also like opportunities that take advantage of the strength of the US dollar and weakness of the Australian dollar. BT Private Wealth notes that, on average, about half of client portfolios are in US dollar-denominated assets. This includes not just equities but also fixed income, as investors position themselves to take advantage of rising US interest rates. Clients are not investing a great deal in China, as they wait to see what happens in the incipient trade war with the US. 

• Best private bank in Bahrain
• Best private bank in Kuwait
• Winner: Ahli United Bank

Established in Bahrain in 2000, Ahli United Bank (AUB) has a strong presence across the Gulf Co-operation Council region.

The private bank has benefited from the group’s large geographical footprint, with 140 branches across Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Oman, Iraq, Libya and the United Arab Emirates, as well as offices in the UK. The AUB group employs more than 3700 people from more than 40 nationalities, of which 35% are women. 

According to Mark Hirst, deputy group CEO, the private bank’s business strategy has been focused on creating value through segmentation. “Our focus has been to enhance the service that we provide to our important clients through our client segmentation, to ensure that our service teams can devote the appropriate time to meet our clients’ complex needs. This has enabled our relationship management teams to focus their efforts and time to deliver the outstanding service levels that our clients have come to expect from AUB,” he says. 

As a result, AUB’s private banking business grew in 2017, both in terms of assets under management and new clients across the region. AUB’s wealth management product offering revolves around an open architecture model, including both conventional and sharia-compliant investment solutions. 

Recent product launches include several bespoke real estate private equity products targeting the ultra-high-net-worth segment. These were introduced in response to key demographic trends in the US, including the demand for specialised housing from ageing baby boomers, and the preference for renting among millennials. “During 2017, we successfully closed a US senior housing real estate transaction, and also offered clients the opportunity to invest in a US multi-family real estate private equity fund,” says Mr Hirst.

Having established a strong platform for the traditional asset classes, the bank is planning to expand its product suite into the alternative investment space, as well as enhance its range of Islamic wealth management products “to meet the needs of this important and growing client base”.

• Best private bank in Belgium
• Winner: KBC Private Banking

KBC registered a record number of new clients and attracted significant net new money in 2017, helping to drive growth of more than 10% growth in client assets to reach about €38bn. The bank’s growth is twice as high as the average in the Belgian private banking market, according to last year’s McKinsey’s Private Banking survey. 

Instrumental to KBC’s expansion was the creation of a “highly specialised hunter team” targeting top client segments, says Regine Debeuckelaere, director KBC Private Banking & Wealth. The private bank also enhanced its customer relationship management tool for leads and prospects, and worked more closely with the group’s retail and corporate branches, focusing on acquiring new clients, especially among medical professionals and family businesses. The latter represent almost 80% of companies in the country.  

“We believe that the combination of fast-growing start-ups and long-term entrepreneurs selling their business will continue to boost growth in our market,” says Ms Debeuckelaere. 

The bank’s family business in transition service caters to clients’ financial and fiscal needs, as well as taking care of family relationships and personal aspects, “which play a major role in the transfer of assets”, according to Ms Debeuckelaere.

A real estate service, covering all types of real estate in the country, was introduced in 2017 to meet client demand. It offers a range of services, including legal, credit and inheritance advice, with advisers also helping clients in their investment decisions.

Thanks to its broad product offering, KBC Private Banking has greatly contributed to the success of sustainable investments in Belgium. “Our new Comfort SRI solutions and the launch of an impact investing fund, comprising 50 innovative businesses – which are rethinking solutions in the areas of mobility, energy, health and an ageing population – have contributed to increase the penetration rate of sustainable investing,” adds Ms Debeuckelaere, who expects this area to grow further. 

• Best private bank in Bermuda
• Best private bank in the Cayman Islands
• Winner: Butterfield

Butterfield has had another good year. It became the largest domestic provider of wealth management and trust services in Bermuda in May 2016, after completing the acquisition of Bermuda Trust Company and the private banking investment management business of HSBC in Bermuda. Building on this, in 2017 it recorded a 38% rise in its Bermuda business. Butterfield attributes this strong increase, matched in other locations, to strong fee income from its wealth management and improved interest income from its banking business, because of an efficient deposit base and rising rate environment.

Within private banking, the primary focus is on locally based high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients, rather than on serving as an offshore bank for international customers. Reflecting the particularities of the market in Bermuda and the Caymans, the client base is segmented into different categories based on occupation type: corporate/insurance and reinsurance executive; medical professional; entrepreneurial; and professional. Each category receives specialised advice and has specialist products dedicated to it.  

One interesting service being used by clients in Bermuda and the Caymans, as well as local customers, is Butterfield Mortgages, which lends to support the purchase of premium properties and specialises in bespoke mortgages. 

Explaining its victory in the Bermuda and Cayman Islands categories, Butterfield says: “Our face-to-face, high-touch service approach allows us to understand our HNW/UHNW clients’ unique requirements for building, protecting and transferring wealth.”

• Best private bank in Brazil
• Best private bank for customer service (Latin America)
• Winner: Itaú Private Bank

Latin America endured another challenging year in 2017, with Brazil mired in  recession and other countries across the region affected by economic and political turbulence. Despite this adverse environment, Itaú Private Bank maintained a leading position in the market, in terms of financial results and client approval.

“When Brazilian interest rates fell, customers began to look for more profitable and sophisticated alternatives, and we were prepared to present them with customised offers that were in line with their profiles and expectations,” says Luiz Severiano Ribeiro, head of Itaú Private Bank Brazil. He explains that his team worked intensively to enhance their product offering by adding more sophisticated investment instruments, both onshore and offshore.

The bank’s recent growth has been mainly organic, helped by partnerships with Itaú Personnalité, the bank’s mass affluent business segment, and Itaú BBA, its corporate and investment banking division. The acquisition of Citibank’s Brazilian retail segment, approved in 2017, has significantly increased Itaú Personnalité’s client referrals in recent months. 

Investment in technology has been a key focus for the management team. “We continue to invest in technologies that enhance the customer experience by increasing the functionality of our applications, either by simplifying communications tools or by developing tools that improve our day-to-day efficiency, which thereby allows us to be more available for our customers,” says Mr Severiano. 

Although demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments remains modest in Brazil, he expects this to grow in the coming years, as the market gains greater understanding about these products.

“To ensure that Itaú stays at the forefront of this trend, the bank has also implemented a cross-departmental process of ESG analysis, which makes it possible to estimate the impact of social and sustainable initiatives on various elements of our portfolio,” says Mr Severiano. “Today, 90% of Itaú’s assets under management are covered by this ESG analysis.”

• Best private bank in Canada
• Winner: RBC Wealth Management

RBC Wealth Management – the undisputed leading private bank in Canada, having won the award since the country category was introduced in 2012 – has continued to work on its one bank model, launching new initiatives aimed at driving growth in ‘shared client relationships’.

These included the roll-out of premier banking, designed for high-net-worth clients with more simplified banking and credit needs, and helping business owners plan for both personal and business goals, through integrated financial and succession planning. 

This year, the Canadian bank has also devised a programme offering tailored property and casualty insurance solutions to wealthy clients with more sophisticated insurance needs. “We continue to see significant opportunity to deepen relationships within our existing client bases in both wealth management and personal and commercial banking. We believe we can leverage the combined strengths of RBC to deliver more value to our clients,” says Doug Guzman, group head, RBC Wealth Management and RBC Insurance.

The institution has also invested in data and digital capabilities to provide a complete view of its shared clients so it can deliver more “personalised and timely insights”. 

“One of the biggest challenges for any ‘one bank’ concept is culture,” says Mr Guzman. RBC has thus introduced a new leadership model for all of its employees, which defines the capabilities and behaviours that contribute most to its future success, which underscores that “how we meet our goals is just as important as what we achieve”, he adds.

In 2017, RBC developed a new programme, Money in Motion, in Canada, encompassing an adviser education campaign and new planning tools, as well as financial literacy education for clients. A key objective is ensuring all advisers understand the need to engage the whole family in any financial or succession planning conversations. Adopting a family-centred approach to wealth planning helps ensure the financial needs of the whole family – parents, spouse and children – are met, says Mr Guzman. As women are responsible for controlling an increasing proportion of wealth through accumulation and inheritance, various initiatives of the bank’s thought leadership programme have focused on female investors, including reports, white papers and a global survey with The Economist last year.

“Business and family succession planning are increasingly important aspects of the holistic advice we provide our clients,” says Mr Guzman. “We see increasing demand for these services, given the massive transfer of wealth that we anticipate over the next decade.” 

• Best private bank in Chile
• Winner: LarrainVial

A broader range of product offerings in the alternative space contributed to drive significant net new money at Chilean bank LarrainVial in 2017, which saw assets under management rise 25% to more than 4.6bn pesos ($6.8bn).

Thanks to close collaboration with its corporate finance division and private equity subsidiary, LarrainVial has been able to offer clients innovative investments, including controlling stakes in local and foreign companies in the healthcare and energy sectors. 

Through a strong relationship with its third-party distribution team, the institution has also given clients access to products managed by global asset managers – mainly alternatives – traditionally reserved for institutional investors. Thanks to these efforts, alternatives today represent almost 25% of assets in high-net-worth client portfolios at LarrainVial. 

Low levels of returns combined with a strong search for yield – obtained by sacrificing liquidity, and disintermediating commercial banks or investing in early-stage companies – are conducive to alternative investments, according to Gonzalo Córdova, head of wealth management at LarrainVial. “Given this scenario, we look for alternative funds that invest in credit funds, private capital, real estate development or real estate income to increase yield and diversification,” he adds.

With the goal of increasing recurrent income, mainly generated by discretionary management fees and mutual fund rebates, last year the bank introduced a fee-based advisory model, with some success. A key pillar of the bank’s advisory services is its open architecture model, supported by international platforms such as UBS, Pictet, Pershing and Allfunds, whereas discretionary portfolios are managed in collaboration with LarrainVial Asset Management.

To improve risk management, the bank developed a new real-time checking system, which aims to better align client portfolios with the recommendations of the advisory team. This initiative was combined with changes to the private bankers’ remuneration system aimed at eliminating conflicts of interest and product push. This has also enabled the bank to set other objectives, such as the cross-selling of products, and documentation processes allowing better alignment with compliance, according to Mr Córdova. 

• Best private bank in China
• Winner: ICBC Private Banking

The growing sophistication of ICBC Private Banking is particularly welcome in a country that has seen more than its fair share of poorly conceived and excessively risky investment products in recent years, products that have drawn in many self-made entrepreneurs with little investment experience. As Zhang Xiaodong, head of ICBC Private Banking puts it: “Our clients are mainly entrepreneurs, earning money from the real economy. They got used to managing their wealth on their own, but the investment environment has become more complex in China recently, so these people tend to turn to professional asset management institutions to prevent money devaluation.”

ICBC Private Banking has also managed to keep growing without sacrificing quality. Its operation in the world’s most populous country is of mammoth proportions, with tens of thousands of staff managing tens of billions of dollars-worth of assets for tens of thousands of clients – and all of these metrics have grown rapidly in recent years. 

ICBC Private Banking is the biggest wealth manager in China. In many ways it looks like a typical wealth manager – albeit one that is much larger than most. For example, it offers socially responsible investing and greater access to overseas investing through offices throughout the world. With the launch in Luxembourg of the ICBC Private Banking Global Investment Fund Series Sicav-SIF, it became the first Chinese bank to establish an overseas investment fund platform. In common with many developed market private banks, it also has its own philanthropic programme. This involves raising money from clients to give children in Sichuan province access to clean, warm water when they shower.

However, the private bank needs to maintain its Chinese essence in order to compete successfully against the multinational private banking rivals that are heavily focused on growth in China, such as UBS. This can be seen in its relentless focus on the family, an institution of paramount importance in China.

Family-focused services include wealth management classes for clients’ children, an e-commerce platform that helps clients gain access to healthcare and education among other things, and expertise in succession planning.

ICBC Private Banking credits its ability to hold its ground against overseas wealth managers partly to a good brand image and partly to ubiquity – 400 of its branches in China offer private banking. It also notes its strong ability in managing assets denominated in renminbi, still the main denomination for client assets. “This is a relatively weak area for foreign banks,” says Mr Xiaodong. 

Regardless of how good the intention, private banks are only effective if the quality of individual members of staff is high. ICBC Private Banking preserves quality through a system of talent management, including online university courses, sharing case studies and overseas training. 

• Best private bank in Colombia
• Winner: Bancolombia

Digitalisation was a big theme for Bancolombia in 2017, marked by the launch of Investbot, a platform that allows clients to receive personalised and automated recommendations on their current positions, to help them make decisions in accordance with market movements and their investment objectives.

“This platform allows our clients to intuitively choose the investment plan that best suits their objectives and the system makes the investments automatically,” says Daniel Peláez Gómez, regional managing director, private banking, at Bancolombia. More than 1000 clients are currently investing through Investbot, with a total invested volume of more than 80bn pesos ($26m).

Part of the Bancolombia Group, the private banking business serves 29,000 clients, and has branches across Colombia’s main cities. In addition, the bank is working on consolidating its regional presence by expanding its business in Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Innovation and digitalisation is one of the ways Bancolombia is responding to the generational change taking place in Colombia, which poses great challenges for private banks regarding how they relate with their clients and develop trustworthy relationships. 

“Another big challenge we face is the reduction in margins and the aggressive competition in commissions, which are increasingly lower,” says Mr Peláez Gómez. “Our digital transformation, our customer-focused strategy and our broad portfolio of products and services are our main strengths to face our competitors.”

Besides ongoing investment in technology, the bank plans to expand its universe of alternative investment products, he adds. “We will continue to work on developing tools that make life easier for our clients when it comes to thinking about their investments.” 

• Best private bank in Croatia
• Winner: Zagrebanka banka (UniCredit)

UniCredit Private Banking has devised a successful policy of using its pan-European, and in some cases global, expertise to build its reputation in Central and Eastern Europe.

For example, its structured products team in Munich responded to the growing demand for these assets in Central and Eastern Europe by devising cross-border products that can be offered to clients in several Central and Eastern European countries. Its structured product with robotic exchange-trade funds underlying set a new record for single product issuance in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia

Another example of capitalising on its global expertise, but this time based on investment in human capital rather than financial assets, is Educational Advisory, a new service created in cooperation with the Worldwide Educational Advisory Company and offered to private banking clients in Central and Eastern Europe from 2017. The service advises clients considering sending children to high school, university, business school and even summer camps, organises tours of universities, and also runs workshops to prepare children for entrance exams. 

“So far we have seen a clear preference among our CEE clients to send their children to universities in Europe,” says Daniela Croitoru, a head of CEE private banking at UniCredit. “However, professional help and support is normally most needed when clients are interested in sending their children to study in the US.”

In the same year the private bank introduced into its Central and Eastern European markets the Real Estate Advisory Agency service, first introduced in Italy, where clients have looked at both industrial real estate and historic castles, and in Germany. 

The private bank has built an excellent reputation in Croatia. It has faced challenges in the country, however.  

“One of the main challenges in developing our private banking business in Croatia has been the rather conservative approach and historical lack of prior investment knowledge and expertise in the local PB market segment,” says Ms Croitoru. “This is why our relationship managers are focused on educating clients in one-to-one and group meetings, explaining investment principles to them, and advising products strictly based on client needs.” 

This approach has allowed the team to increase its AuM and strengthen client satisfaction in recent years, she claims.

The private bank has ploughed resources into the region recently, which is paying dividends in terms of the bank’s reach. The number of client-facing staff and assets under management both rose in 2017.

In 2017, UniCredit Croatia (Zagrebačka banka) adopted the Open Guided Architecture approach, becoming the first bank to offer this service to clients and distribute foreign funds in the country. Throughout the year, it put substantial efforts into preparatory activities for its Guided Open Architecture approach and negotiations with preferred partners. The year ended with a client event introducing the first four partners. The intention for 2018 is to further increase the number of providers and give clients the possibility of accessing an even larger number of best-in-class products.

• Best private bank in the Czech Republic
• Winner: Komercni banka (KB Private Banking)

KB Private Banking has won in the Czech Republic for the second year running, and continues to reap the rewards of a strong reputation, with further strong growth in private clients, taken largely from the wealthier clients using its retail banking network. Its compound annual growth rate in the four years to 2017 totals 12% for assets under management, 20% for net business income and 9% for client numbers.

It is not only clients that KB takes from its retail bank. The private bankers are taken largely from the highly performing section of the retail bank’s premium banking arm. The average private banker has been working within the KB group for 14 years, and within wealth management at KB for nine years.

By recruiting high-performing long stayers from within the group, the private bank keeps staff churn low, with an annual turnover of between 2% and 4%.

These private bankers are grappling with what Petr Slaby, director of KB Private Banking in Prague, regards as an interesting juncture in the evolution of wealth in the country. “The increasing importance of family office and ultra-high-net-worth clients is very evident in the Czech market,” he says. “It is partially caused by the organic growth of wealth and the economic success of our country, but primarily by the beginning of a generational change in families, from the first generation of successful Czech entrepreneurs, industrialists, businessmen and businesswomen who started building the new Czech economy after the Velvet Revolution in 1989.”

In response, the private bank is continually developing tailor-made solutions in wealth management, succession planning and mergers and acquisition advisory. Looking to the future, it is implementing KB Change, a comprehensive strategic update programme, with a target horizon of 2020 and beyond. The programme is partly about digitalising the private bank, but also about organisational change, including cutting out layers of management. In preserving quality and making improvements, it can benefit from the support of the prestigious private banking arm of Société Générale, KB’s parent company. 

• Best private bank in Denmark
• Winner: Nykredit Private Banking

Nykredit Bank posted some impressive numbers in 2017: client numbers were up by 57%, assets under management by almost 40% and revenues by more than 90%. But, priding itself on customer experience, the Danish bank boosted headcount to match, with both client-facing staff and overall numbers up almost 60%, a trend that is set to continue. 

“Our private banking offering is gaining momentum in the Danish market and we expect to grow our market share further and thereby will also be hiring advisers at the same pace in the near future,” says Martin Schuricht, managing director of Nykredit Private Banking.

The bank estimates it currently has 5% to 6% of the country’s private banking market – a market it believes is growing at between 3% and 4% a year, so the inflow of new clients should continue. “We are targeting both new clients and those already receiving private banking services,” says Mr Schuricht. Particular focus is placed on Danish homeowners. 

The bank places great importance on being able to provide a personal touch to clients, but recognises the increasing importance of combining that with effective digital solutions. Those private bankers serving clients with DKr2m to DKr7m ($300,000 to $1.1m) are responsible for about 200 families, whereas those serving customers with more than DKr7m are responsible for between 50 and 100 families. 

Recent initiatives have included its Investor Insights digital channel where it puts its advisers right on the front line in client communication, to provide news and updates in written, audio and video formats. 

Attracting millennials is also a big part of the bank’s plans, with the children of its high-end Elite clients being targeted by its Next Generation concept as it tries to engage with the 18- to 35-year-old age group. 

• Best private bank in France
• Winner: BNP Paribas Banque Privée France
• Best private bank for millennials
• Winner: BNP Paribas Wealth Management

Vincent Lecomte, co-CEO of BNP Paribas Wealth Management, managing €373bn, including more than €100bn in assets from French domestic clients, is particularly proud of three recent innovations.

His new co-construction platform, Le Cercle des Influenceurs, allows the bank to on-board both employees and clients at each stage of programmes designed to create and test new products and services.

An initiative to ‘streamline and simplify customer journeys’ involves the deployment of electronics signatures in all BNP’s private banking centres across France, with benefits that include using less paper, lowering operational risk and removing requirements for many back-office operations. Lastly, he has initiated dedicated support teams for entrepreneurs and business owners.

These initiatives are built on the bank’s close co-operation between retail and private banking branches, with regional centres of expertise – in cities including Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille, catering to clients with more than Ä5m in assets – taking on a more important role. Most recently the bank opened a wealth management centre in Strasbourg, “where there is a clear need to support entrepreneurs in particular”.

Millennial clients have a greater need than their parents to be connected and empowered, placing a higher value on time, according to Mr Lecomte – which is why the bank decided it needed to vastly improve the customer experience. This has been done through the creation of cross-department ‘pizza teams’ tasked within incubation units to design new products and services, and involving clients in the process. It has meant creating new working practices, combining what Mr Lecomte refers to as “lean start-up mode, design thinking and agile mode”, aided by design specialists and fintech companies.

This client group is particularly interested in impact investing, which has led to the bank working with 30 international entrepreneurs under the guidance of the University of Cambridge, to identify business changes needed to increase sustainability.

“Over the past year, the concept of positive impact has moved up the agenda for entrepreneurs,” says Mr Lecomte, reporting a total of €12bn now invested in responsible investments by his clients, a tenfold growth over the past six years. “We see a strong appetite from entrepreneurs to align their investments with their values.” 

• Best private bank in Georgia
• Winner: TBC Bank

Despite only being established in 1992, TBC Bank has been able to challenge incumbent player Bank of Georgia and develop an attractive value proposition – focusing on innovative products and services, a dedicated multi-channel platform and qualified personal bankers – which has proved particularly successful with entrepreneurs and millennials.

“Entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses are the backbone of the national economy,” says Nino Masurashvili, deputy CEO and head of private banking at the Georgian institution. “We see high growth potential in this segment and are committed to actively supporting new businesses.”

In 2017, the bank introduced a new programme, Startuperi, a first in the country and the wider region, providing financial support to start-up companies, while also offering training, masterclasses, advisory services and media coverage to young firms. About 19,000 businesses have already taken part in the initiative.

Earlier this year, it launched Space, a fully digital banking app, developed in partnership with giant tech firms such as Amazon Cloud, Pulsar AI, Mambu, SalesForce and Corezoid. The service, popular with millennials, is “set to change the way people handle their daily banking needs, with beautiful and intuitive design, instant service delivery and transparent pricing,” says Ms Masurashvili. The most significant benefit in targeting millennials, she adds, is their potential long-term value to a brand.

In Georgia’s nascent wealth management market, the institution is committed to offering investment solutions to help customers increase their income and diversify their portfolios. These have included alternative products, such as direct investments in locally traded bonds or tailored international investment solutions. Through its group’s subsidiary, TBC Capital, the private bank also offers brokerage and investment banking services to high-net-worth individuals.

A wide range of lifestyle products, “highly valued” by very busy customers, are also available.

• Best private bank in Germany
• Winner: Berenberg

Founded in 1590, Berenberg is one of the world’s oldest banks and, in the words of its managing partners, one of the most dynamic. From its Hamburg headquarters, Berenberg has established a presence in the key financial centres of Frankfurt, London, New York and Zurich. The bank has €41.5bn in assets under management and employs 1600 people across 16 locations in Europe and the US.

“We combine the trust you place in an institution with a long tradition and its established values, with dynamism and the ability to change. This is as much appreciated by ‘old money’, as by the younger generation,” says Hans-Walter Peters, spokesman for the managing partners.

Berenberg’s investment capabilities and reputation for being a strong equity house are supported by team of more than 120 analysts (one of Europe’s largest research teams), as well as a highly regarded macroeconomics team. “Over the past two years, we have significantly expanded our expertise, launched several equity funds and attracted some of the best known and best performing fund managers. We want to be a leading provider of active investment solutions for German and European shares,” says Mr Peters.

The bank’s wealth management business has strong ties with other business divisions, allowing clients to access solutions that surpass the traditional offering for high-net-worth individuals. For instance, the bank uses the energy and infrastructure knowledge of its corporate banking team to provide clients with innovative investments in wind, solar and infrastructure projects.

Responding to interest from clients on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments, the bank has recently opened an ESG office to focus on integrating sustainability aspects into investment portfolios, as well as providing advisory services for foundations and non-profits. This year, the firm launched its first sustainable emerging market bond fund, the Berenberg Sustainable EM Bonds.

“Sustainability issues are more and more important to investors. Our clients want to know what we are doing with their money, and, in particular, institutional investors are questioning investment decisions. We meet these wishes. We also think that ESG-compliant companies have a competitive advantage in global markets,” says Mr Peters. 

• Best private bank in Greece
• Winner: Alpha Private Bank

In a country where cross-border asset outflows have had a significant impact on the private banking sector, up until the imposition of capital controls in 2015, which have recently been eased, Alpha Bank has introduced initiatives aimed at improving its portfolio management offering and client service.

The Greek private bank, which manages $4.7bn in client assets, last year re-launched and enhanced its discretionary services, implementing central monitoring of portfolios by the investment sales support team. It also introduced an app facilitating the generation of investment proposals and suitability and appropriateness tests in client meetings. This tool was instrumental to the bank’s decision to migrate execution-only relationships to advisory, also in view of MiFID II regulations. 

“Alpha Bank is at the forefront of opportunities across the Greek private banking sector, as the industry seeks to improve customer experience, navigate regulatory changes and regain the full confidence of high-net-worth clients,” says Emmanouil I Arzinos, manager of the private banking division of Alpha Bank. “By investing in technology, we have built a multi-channel platform, which means we are able to engage with clients in the way they want to do business with us. It also makes us more flexible in our approach [and] able to provide expert advice quickly through advisory sessions that are tailored to our clients’ demands.” 

Greece may have exited the eurozone’s bailout programme but the country’s economy has shrunk by one-quarter since the financial crisis and growth has only just started to recover into expansion territory. However, Mr Arzinos maintains a positive outlook on the country and the banking sector, saying: “The Greek economy continues to see a sustained increase in deposits returning to the banking system, demonstrating increasing confidence in the sector.” 

Increased confidence will act as a catalyst for foreign investment, which will create more jobs, drive growth and generate momentum in the Greek banking sector, he adds. “With the highest capital position among our peers, Alpha Bank has a strong platform from which we can continue expanding our customer base and capitalise on renewed economic optimism,” says Mr Arzinos.

• Best private bank in Hungary
• Best private bank in Ukraine
• Winner: OTP Private Banking

OTP has won in its home country for the sixth year running, as it continues to increase its already-dominant position in a growing market and as Hungary’s entrepreneurial class grows larger and richer. In 2017, it enlarged its market share of wealth management in the country by two percentage points to 35.4% of assets under management (AuM).

However, not everything in the Hungarian garden is rosy. “Shrinking revenue margins and maintaining profitability are particularly big challenges for private banks in the central and eastern Europe [CEE] region,” says András Takács, managing director and head of wealth and investment management at OTP Bank. “The decreasing trend of interest rates puts more pressure on revenue margins here because the investment culture and attitude differ from western European standards and fixed income-type investments are more dominant in client portfolios.”

The private bank has responded in two ways. “According to our new growth strategy, we shifted from a growth based on client numbers approach to an AuM-focused growth strategy,” says Mr Takács. “This shift in strategy served to improve efficiency by increasing the concentration of wealth.” 

Less affluent private banking clients have been switched to the mass affluent Premium service of OTP Bank, which has also given its wealthiest clients to the private bank. This has enabled the private bank to increase AuM per client by 13% in 2016 and 16% in 2017. In executing this policy of shifting clients from one part of the bank to another, it has the advantage of being part of the largest banking group in Hungary.

The private bank has also responded by restructuring the portfolio of its clientele, away from cash on deposit and lower yielding fixed-income investments and towards higher yielding investments. Mr Takács describes this as “a win-win situation for the client and the business line as well”. 

OTP is present in nine countries across the CEE region and is one of the few institutions to offer a true wealth management service in Ukraine, where, despite the turbulent market environment in the country, it managed to boost client numbers by 20%. 

• Best private bank in Hong Kong
• Best private bank in the UK
• Winner: HSBC Private Bank

The main task at HSBC Private Bank, which has had to resolve structural and historic compliance problems, has been to evolve and refine its operational model, rather than innovate in a disruptive way, as it has long been a leader in terms of alternative investments and structured products.

“Across the private bank, we have been systematic about bringing the enormous resource of one of the world’s biggest private banks to our clients,” says Charles Boulton, CEO of HSBC Private Bank in the UK, part of a global institution managing $330bn in client assets across Europe, Asia and North America.

HSBC’s success in the awards for 2018 is testament to its ability to both continue to add clients and assets through its internal network as well as adjust and conform to a new era of regulatory stringency. In fact, the bank believes it has improved dramatically in its ability to bring together colleagues from private, retail and commercial banking to anticipate and support the needs of shared clients. Regional expansion in the UK has been part of this policy, with the UK head office based in Birmingham rather than London, to reflect daily client needs across the entire country, rather than being branded a London-centric bank.

HSBC’s understanding of entrepreneurs is now being leveraged to support these clients more effectively through different stages of their lives and business cycles. 

• Best private bank in Italy
• Winner: BNL-BNP Paribas Private Banking

The private banking division of the BNL-BNP Paribas Group combines the local expertise of BNL, the Italian bank acquired by the French group in 2006, with the reach and resources of an international institution such as BNP Paribas. 

With more than €25bn in client assets and 360 private bankers, the Italian bank caters to rich individuals through private banking centres in 30 Italian cities across the country, sourcing more than 60% of its revenues from the wealthy northern regions.

With a focus on entrepreneurs, who represent more than 40% of wealthy individuals in Italy, the bank works in synergy with the group’s corporate arm, BNL Corporate, and has generated €5bn in net new money from this important client segment over the past seven years. More than 50 centres in the peninsula are specifically dedicated to entrepreneurs, where corporate and private bankers work together to offer personalised solutions. 

The bank has improved its discretionary portfolio management offering by introducing new thematic solutions, including new technologies and secular trends, as well as low-risk, liquid alternative funds. It also provides sustainable products, leveraging the expertise of the French group. 

The Italian bank also capitalises on the technology investments made by its parent company. “Private banks have to thoroughly review their business models to cope with a financial landscape disrupted by technological innovation,” says Gianpietro Giuffrida, head of BNL-BNP Paribas Private Banking. “Technology is our ally, enabling us to serve our clients in a more personalised way, and be more proactive, and at the same time it allows us to devote more time to cater to our clients’ sophisticated needs and help them achieve their goals.” 

• Best private bank in India
• Winner: HDFC Bank

HDFC Bank’s main aim is to be a ‘world-class Indian bank’, benchmarking itself against international standards and best practices, in terms of product offerings, technology, customer service, risk management and compliance. 

Headquartered in Mumbai, the bank’s vast distribution network consists of some 4700 branches across 2700 cities. 

Wealth management services are offered on the basis of client segmentation across four main categories: private banking, for clients with assets of at least Rs10m ($135,000); ultra high net worth, for those with a minimum of Rs50m; virtual relationship manager, for accounts of at least Rs1m; and non-resident Indians, catering for Indian clients based in the United Arab Emirates. HDFC has taken advantage of its position as an Indian bank with strong presence in the Middle East, to attract clients among the Indian diaspora in the region.

One of the bank’s key strategies over the course of 2017-18 has been to broaden its product suite by adding new product categories. Alongside the more plain vanilla products it has offered over the years, HDFC has expanded its investment solutions range to include offshore mutual funds and bonds and alternative investments, such as private equity and commercial real estate funds.

In terms of customer services innovation, the bank has recently launched a new digital platform covering all the financial needs of clients, from basic banking transactions to loans and investments. As a further step towards the implementation of state-of-the-art technology as a means to enhance client experience, customers visiting some HDFC branches could soon be greeted, and assisted, by humanoid robots. 

• Best private bank in Korea
• Winner: KEB Hana Bank

With 80% of South Korean high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) living in the capital Seoul and the surrounding province of Gyeonggi, until recently the region had been the focus of KEB Hana Bank’s attentions. But the bank is now expanding into other metropolitan areas across the country as it seeks to boost its private banking services nationwide. 

“This expansion is not only meaningful in terms of securing new customers, but also to providing wealth management services to HNWIs and to their households without any kind of regional restrictions, whether their families live in Seoul or not,” says senior manager Hwajin Hong. “It is about creating a network connecting the entire country.” 

Although many banking transactions are shifting online – an area in which the bank has invested heavily – KEB Hana believes branches still have a role to play, allowing clients to seek face-to-face expert advice.

Another physical embodiment of the bank’s dedication to customer service is the network of Gold Clubs it has built. These 25 clubs (23 in Seoul) each have a different concept. For example, those in residential areas may include a wine bar to host social gatherings, while those located in commercial areas or in major business hubs have meeting rooms where customers can hold presentations and business meetings. 

The bank is also targeting women as future clients. “In Korea, housewives traditionally tend to manage family assets, so we strive to meet the demands and needs of female customers,” says Ms Hong. Recent initiatives have included cooking classes, art exhibitions and travel programmes in which mothers and daughters can participate together. 

KEB Hana’s assets under management grew by 10% in 2017, while the number of high-net-worth clients rose by almost 8%. 

• Best private bank in Lebanon
• Best private bank for customer service (Middle East)
• Winner: Audi Private Bank

Local player Audi Private Bank has won in the Lebanon category for the fifth year running. The private banking arm, which has $4bn under management, including a large proportion on behalf of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, continues to innovate. For example, it is introducing a new discretionary mandate that will be invested according to sustainable and responsible investment criteria – responding to the increasing interest among private banking clients across the industry, as they see the financial return as well as ethical arguments for this. The bank says that there are suitable “socially motivated” investors for this product in Lebanon. 

It has also introduced a flexible equity product, which aims to take advantage of market opportunities. It is an absolute return product designed to weather the market cycle by increasing and reducing cash positions.

As to what comes next, the bank says: “We are continuously monitoring new investment trends with a focus on tech, biotech, AI and robotics sectors and look forward to benefiting from such investment opportunities.” 

In a country where personal trust matters a great deal, Audi Private Bank continues to strive to maintain the long tenure of its private bankers, which averages nine or 10 years. 

• Best private bank in Liechtenstein
• Winner: Raiffeisen Privatbank Liechtenstein

A small private bank simply cannot compete with the big boys when it comes to brand recognition or the range of services on offer. But being small also has its advantages, according to Alexander Putzer, CEO of Raiffeisen Privatbank Liechtenstein (RPL). 

“It is easier to do things personally and individually – both internally and externally. And in our business of private banking and wealth management, true individualisation has a high value for clients, while adapting to changes in the market is easier if one’s structures are slim and agile,” he says.

With just a solitary branch, RPL may be small, but the bank’s focus has always been on getting consultants out of the office on client visits rather than waiting for clients to visit the bank.

Change is in the wind, however, with 2017 seeing a new partner and owner for RPL in the form of Mason Group Hong Kong, which should open up a more international client base for the bank, especially in Asia. 

But as its client base expands, RPL is determined to continue to serve its existing customers in its core markets with the same high-touch approach it has always prided itself on. “Meanwhile, for our clients coming from Asia, we have established client relationship models that ensure that any Asian clients will also be treated highly individually and offered the full range of services and support networks as our clients from Europe [enjoy],” says Mr Putzer. 

• Best private bank in Luxembourg
• Winner: KBL Luxembourg

Being part of a 50-city European private banking network enables KBL Luxembourg, a pure-play, relatively small private bank founded in 1949, to achieve key competitive advantages. “We are able to provide our clients with agility, proximity and a very high degree of personalisation, thanks to both our deep local insight and, via the group, our truly pan-European perspective,” says Carlo Friob, CEO at KBL Luxembourg.

Today, high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) seek a long-term partner that can manage their international portfolio, meet their lending expectations and provide a range of associated professional services, he adds. 

Private banking clients are often entrepreneurs who live in one country, have their business in another and a holiday home in a third. “Such HNWI clients choose to bank in Luxembourg because of the extraordinarily high level of political stability, because the wealth management industry is so robust here, and because thinking cross-border is part of our DNA,” says Mr Friob.

The group’s private banking assets under management grew 30% in 2017, reaching €65bn, reflecting client focus and investments in enhanced products and services. These encompass a ‘holistic’ offering including wealth management, asset management, lending, and wealth planning and structuring. 

Acquisitions also had a positive impact on asset growth. Continuing to pursue its external expansion strategy, in late 2017, KBL European Private Bankers signed an agreement to take over the domestic Dutch private banking business of Lombard Odier, reinforcing its presence in the Netherlands. It was the bank’s fifth acquisition in three years.

KBL has developed strong relations with Lombard Odier since embarking on a digital transformation journey in 2017, when activities at the bank’s headquarters in the Grand Duchy were migrated to a new, advanced IT platform powered by the Swiss firm.

Through the global institutional and professional services business line, KBL serves family offices, foundations, external asset managers and other institutional clients. This completes the wealth management value chain by providing true one-stop-shop solutions, according to Mr Friob. 

• Best private bank in Mauritius
• Winner: MCB Private Banking and Wealth Management

The aim at MCB Private Banking and Wealth Management in Mauritius is to position itself as the reference point in Africa for premium banking and wealth management expertise. Besides catering to its local clients – mainly owners of family business, business people and entrepreneurs who have built their wealth over time, and international clients with a presence on the island – it is also looking to expand into other geographies.

In a joint collaboration between its wealth management and corporate and institutional banking arms, MCB recently set up an Africa desk, which aimed to tap into the entrepreneur segment on the continent and targeted west Africa in particular. The bank also plans to establish a physical presence in Abidjan, the economic centre of Côte d’Ivoire.

“Our aim is to capitalise on the ongoing momentum, which is seeing a broadening of the high-net-worth client base on the continent as countries register robust economic growth as well as interesting demographic and urbanisation trends, leading populations to boost their wealth levels and to increasingly look out for investment management destinations,” says Alain Law Min, CEO at MCB.

MCB Private Banking and Wealth Management believes its clients, local or international, place great value on the personal service it provides, with both segments being treated in a similar fashion. A recent innovation launched in December 2017 was the ‘My Concierge’ service. Available via telephone, online or through a dedicated app, the service aims to enhance clients’ lifestyles through features such as a dedicated personal assistant, a home assist service, priority bookings at restaurants and entertainment events, and by facilitating travel arrangements. 

“While being at the disposal of our overall client base, this service is, understandably, mostly availed of by our local clientele,” says Mr Law Min. “Since its launch, the service has so far witnessed sustained market interest and an impressive number of subscriptions.” 

• Best private bank in Malaysia
• Winner: CIMB Private Banking

Launched in 2002 in Malaysia, CIMB Private Banking has expanded into other markets to include offices in Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. It offers advisory services, portfolio planning and wealth management solutions for high-net-worth individuals across Asia. 

The private bank is part of the CIMB Group, the fifth largest banking group within the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean), employing 37,000 in 15 countries across Asia and beyond. “Our key value proposition lies in CIMB Group’s strong, established in-house capabilities, deep Asean expertise and continued commitment to deliver the best banking and financial solutions to our clients across the Asean region,” says Dato’ Kong Sooi Lin, group head of CIMB Private Banking. 

Leveraging on the parent group’s capabilities and strengths has allowed the bank to expand market share and revenue. “But it has also enhanced our customers’ experience by providing convenience and benefits of consolidating their personal and business relationship with us,” adds Ms Kong.

The bank offers a full suite of integrated investment and banking solutions, including equities, fixed income, alternative investments, derivatives and structured financing. It operates an open architecture approach, whereby investment solutions are sourced from within the group, as well as from third parties.

Over the past year, CIMB Private Banking has aggressively focused on the mid-tier and the young and affluent client categories. “With strong collaboration between our key business pillars within the group, we have strengthened our ability to offer bespoke financial solutions for all of our customers’ needs, be it personal or business. Our complete suite of solutions, well-trained advisers and strong Asean footprint make for a highly compelling proposition to customers, which has driven the strong growth in our business,” says Ms Kong.

• Best private bank in Mexico
• Winner: BBVA Bancomer Banca Privada

In 2017, BBVA Bancomer implemented a new advisory service model focused on customer segmentation. The new framework allows the bank to deliver global tailor-made solutions catering to specific niche segments, including ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients, younger investors and less affluent customers.

The move complements other steps taken by the bank in recent years, including the launch of its Experiencia Unica service model, designed with four stages of the customer journey in mind – early engagement, on-boarding, delivery and servicing. The model has helped to develop strategies that can evolve in line with changing customer needs and technologies.

For private clients, BBVA Bancomer has introduced features that allow customers to establish direct communications with their private bankers through a mobile app. The bank has also recently redesigned its self-service investment platform, Btrader, adding a user-friendly interface that makes it easier for clients to trade stocks and funds online, download research reports and manage their own portfolios with high standards of online security.

Investment has also been made in developing a family office UHNW service, consolidating advice and execution of global portfolios across in-house and external investment managers.

In addition to the investment solutions on offer to this client segment, the bank offers several non-financial services, such as a specialised health service, educational counselling and an art advisory service. Clients also have access to BBVA’s global network, including BBVA Compass, BBVA Spain and BBVA Switzerland.

In 2018, BBVA Bancomer became the first private bank in Mexico to issue a green bond on the local stock exchange, the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, a move it hopes will support the development of the green bond market in the country. 

• Best private bank in Monaco
• Winner: Barclays Private Bank

Barclays Private Bank serves high-net-worth, ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) and family office clients in the UK and internationally, offering bespoke banking, credit and investment products and a wide range of services, as well as a full range of fund and execution platforms, and access to the group’s investment bank.

The private bank has a long history in Monaco – it was the first foreign private bank to open its doors in Monte Carlo in 1922, and it is the only remaining UK bank in the principality.

“We are very proud of our heritage. As a British bank in Monaco, we can offer clients unique access to the wider Barclays group services both in the UK and internationally,” says Francesco Grosoli, CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Barclays Private Bank. “With a local team of more than 20 in-house investment specialists, our clients can choose how to they want to invest with us.”

Local advisers are capable of servicing all nationalities present in Monaco and speak more than 15 languages, he adds, saying: “No matter how simple or complex our clients’ needs, our credit, cash and liquidity specialists can create a uniquely personalised solution, from savings accounts and cards, to securities-backed financing and structured credit.” The bank also offers residential financing for UHNW individuals in France and Monaco.

In 2017, Barclays continued to build a holistic impact investment proposition for clients. “Through impact investing, our clients have an opportunity to grow their assets while supporting innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. For those investors who recognise every investment they make has an impact, we can support them to invest intentionally, while making a positive contribution to the world,” says Mr Grosoli.

Supporting clients on their philanthropic activities has also been a priority and the bank recently published a guide on how to engage the next generation in philanthropic giving. 

“At the heart of each client relationship is a private banker dedicated to gaining an in-depth understanding of their client’s needs. They curate a dedicated team for each client, bringing together our banking, credit, investment, philanthropy and wealth planning specialists along with experts from across Barclays, including our investment and corporate bank,” says Mr Grosoli. 

• Best private bank in New Zealand
• Winner: ANZ Private Bank

ANZ, the largest private bank in New Zealand, registered growth in all areas of business in 2017, including deposits, lending and investments, with client assets rising 8% to $17.4bn. This achievement is “a reflection of the strength of our client focus and an important indicator that clients value the bank’s 360-degree, solution based-approach”, says Ben Kelleher, head of ANZ Private Bank, New Zealand. “More importantly, it demonstrates that having a holistic focus on our clients is not only good for them – it’s also good for our business.”

Meeting the changing needs of clients is crucial to attract new customers, he believes, and gathering and acting on client feedback is key. Last year the bank introduced online client surveys with automated reporting of results. “This has allowed us to gather more frequent, timely feedback from clients and continually monitor how we are performing, and what we could be doing better,” he says.

Providing wealth solutions for rich individuals transitioning from successful private businesses or large firms continues to be a strong focus for the bank. 

Migrant investors are also a rapidly growing client segment, and the private bank’s dedicated team, the largest in New Zealand, offers wealth solutions required for visa purposes, as well a full range of wealth and banking services. 

Over the past three years, ANZ Private has on-boarded more than 50% of all ‘investor category’ migrants.

Improving financial literacy is a topical issue in New Zealand, as the level of financial literacy generally lags other developed countries such as the US or the UK. To ensure clients have the information and knowledge to make informed financial decisions, the bank has introduced new initiatives, including a commitment to plain English in all communications, and regular events giving opportunity to build knowledge and hear from experts.

Investing in technology is also crucial. Through the bank’s projection app, private bankers can now easily explore different investment scenarios with clients, and illustrative tools help “demystify wealth management concepts and empower clients”. 

• Best private bank in Nigeria
• Best private bank for customer service (Africa)
• Winner: Standard Bank Wealth and Investment

Many outside observers underestimate the cultural differences between different countries in Africa, but Standard Bank Wealth and Investment has clearly navigated these waters well, establishing successful businesses outside its home country of South Africa.

The wealth manager now has branches in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, as well as in London and the offshore centres of Jersey and Mauritius. Nigeria in particular has become a glittering prize for private bankers because of its growing wealth – in 2013 it overtook South Africa to become the largest economy in Africa. 

Standard Bank Wealth and Investment’s growth in Nigeria over the past couple of years has been rapid. “The need for bespoke wealth planning is becoming more and more crucial in Nigeria as the market matures and incomes improve,” says the wealth manager, while noting the Nigerian market is complex, with “heightened risks”.

One aspect is that a significant proportion of the wealth is held by Muslim families, who often want to invest according to Islamic principles. The wealth manager offers a sharia portfolio, which has two layers: a quantitative analysis of the permissibility of the investment, and a quantitative financial ratio analysis. “The development of Islamic banking solutions is on the rise in many countries in Africa, including South Africa, and we continue to expand our offerings in this space,” says the wealth manager.

The private banking industry in general is keen to develop services compatible with Islamic principles, but has been less united in embracing the concept that investment planning should start with customers’ emotional needs. Standard Bank Wealth and Investment has planted itself firmly in the camp of those private banks that believe emotional needs should be at the heart of the matter. It says: “We have shifted the focus to first ask the client: ‘What matters to you and your family?’ This approach to customer service seems popular with clients.”

Although the majority of Standard Bank Wealth and Investment’s assets under management are in South Africa and Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana are seeing the fastest client growth.  

• Best private bank in Oman
• Winner: Bank Muscat

Bank Muscat, a local player that claims to be the leader in market share, again wins in Oman, where it serves a mixture of native Omanis and expatriates. 

Middle Eastern private banking markets can be hard for outsiders to navigate, but Bank Muscat, which has $1.15bn in client assets which it manages on a non-discretionary basis, has an instinctive understanding of local priorities.

For example, the private bank addresses what it calls the “lifestyle needs” of customers by providing finance for luxury yachts and luxury cars. It also responds to the strong client interest in real estate and offshore investments.

Bank Muscat Private Banking takes training seriously: a dedicated division, Learning & Development, focuses on training team members in customer service and product offerings. It also educates clients through investment seminars. 

Assets under management grew 11% in 2017. The private bank notes that private wealth is rapidly increasing and it uses social media – even more important than in other regions because of the Gulf’s young, tech-savvy high-net-worth population – to tap into this growth by building brand awareness.

Bank Muscat Private Banking maintains service quality through surveys to gauge client feedback.

• Best private bank in Poland
• Winner: mBank

Polish banking group mBank, owned by Germany’s Commerzbank, has won best private bank in Poland for the second time, building its reputation with an increasingly international offering.

The private bank has decided to eliminate home bias investments as much as possible. “Two years ago, the proportion of Polish investments in a model mid-risk portfolio exceeded 90%,” says Bartosz Pawowski, chief investment officer at mBank. “We have recently managed to bring it below half and currently such a portfolio is 55% invested abroad, using mostly exchange-traded funds. We intend to continue with this process.”

It has done this using a range of international asset managers with whom it co-operates – Allianz/Pimco, Fidelity, Schroders and Franklin Templeton – with further relationships planned. “While we can’t disclose the asset managers we are negotiating with, we intend to make some important announcements on this subject in the coming weeks,” says Mr Pawowski.

The private bank has also given its advisers a large amount of latitude in devising portfolios – up to a point. “Since almost all of our private banking advisers hold European Financial Planner certificates, we gave them a flexibility to adjust model portfolios according to their knowledge of individual client’s preferences,” says mBank. 

The advisory team is responsible for preparing a list of possible substitutes, and the relationship manager can then modify the model portfolio using other funds from that list. “We believe that this combination of rigid controls on product selection, and the ability on the part of the adviser to adjust to the individual requirement of the client, allows us to offer a better service,” the bank says.

Looking at the local market as a whole, Mr Pawowski thinks Poland is a great place to be a wealth manager. “The country has been growing rapidly and producing more and more wealthy people for whom wealth management has become an essential service,” he says. 

• Best private bank in Portugal
• Winner: Millennium bcp

Operating within a universal bank, Millennium bcp caters to the investment needs of high-net-worth (HNW) customers, having at least Ä350,000 in investable assets, with entrepreneurs and professionals its key target client segment. 

The ‘network specialisation’ process the Portuguese bank implemented in 2015 has borne fruit, contributing to the steady growth of the private bank’s customer base. “HNW clients were reallocated to Millennium’s private banking division and their assets with us have already increased significantly since then,” says Vasco Rebello de Andrade, head of private banking at Millennium bcp. 

Its open architecture platform is a key differentiating factor.

The bank’s advisory services, at the core of the value proposition for HNW individuals, are based exclusively on third-party financial instruments. “This brings a level of impartiality that would be otherwise impossible to achieve,” says Mr Rebello de Andrade. It also encourages developing a “teamwork spirit” between the client, the private banker and the investment specialist.

Despite their traditional risk aversion, more and more private Portuguese investors are seeking specialised investment services, as traditional deposits and fixed-income products yield unattractive returns. In addition to portfolio management solutions for a wide range of risk-return customer profiles, the institution offers tailor-made structured products, as well as hedge funds.  

Global and domestic economic growth have contributed to make the wealthy Portuguese more willing to entrust privately owned Portuguese banks with their assets, says Mr Rebello de Andrade. Moreover, Millennium benefits from being the only Portuguese bank listed on the country’s stock exchange.

Tax incentives aimed at attracting rich, foreign individuals to the country have not been relevant from a private banking perspective, he adds. Portugal has historically been chosen as a country to retire to by northern European high-net-worth individuals. “But tax incentives, along with the lower cost of living in Portugal, tend to attract individuals with tighter budgets in their countries of origin, who are not considered to be high net worth by Portuguese standards, but affluent at best.”

• Best private bank in Romania
• Winner: Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, Raiffeisen Bank International

Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (FWR) Private Banking, the wealth management arm of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI),provides its private banking clients with a three-tiered investment offering: discretionary portfolio management, model portfolios and non-advisory services.  

Vienna-headquartered FWR has a presence across central and eastern Europe, and indeed was highly commended for the regional award, but it is in Romania where the bank picks up the top prize. FWR opened five new offices in the country between 2016 and 2017, concentrating in the areas where wealthy customers were lacking financial advice. 

“As our Romanian business is a young and dynamically evolving one, we see potential for the future growth,” says Fabian Stenzel, head of the international affluent and private banking division at RBI. 

The needs of its private banking customers are similar across all locations, he adds, with a desire for security and stability, combined with the reliable and steady growth of their accumulated wealth. “The local differences lie in the investment products, which arise from the local legal and regulatory framework as well as from the interest rate environment, the political situation and the level of the private banking market maturity.”

The introduction of MiFID II was a major challenge for the bank, according to Mr Stenzel, but it tried to use the regulation change to revisit its business model and enhance its advisory process to create further value for customers. 

“We created a new understanding for efficient customer service and holistic advice based on our common wealth management advisory system,” he says. “It was a challenging exercise, as we did not purchase an existing solution, but rather defined the functionalities and processes by ourselves, involving the experts of all the locations of the group.” 

The bank is confident that its new set-up will ensures high-quality customer service in all its locations and that the technology infrastructure it has put in place is robust enough to support the new offering. 

• Best private bank in Slovakia
• Winner: Tatra banka

Tatra banka has been providing private banking services in Slovakia since 1998. Part of the Raiffeisen banking group, the bank dominates the Slovakian wealth management sector, with nearly €2.5bn in assets under management and a market share close to 50%.

The bank’s main focus during 2017 was to get ready for the arrival of MiFID II. Steps were taken, as part of a group-wide project, to develop and implement a new wealth management platform to cover the complete, end-to-end advisory process across all client portfolios. In addition to complying with the new regulatory environment, the new platform aims to deliver a better client experience in terms of advisory and portfolio management services, and reporting.

“The main challenges last year were the legal changes, and implementing them on time. We also tried to bring in something new that the client will see as an innovative approach, or something with added value,” says Marek Neckar, head of private banking at Tatra banka.  

Recent innovations include the launch of a new financial advisory tool to improve the quality of advisory services, as well as the introduction of digital signature capabilities and voice biometry technology.

Expanding its investment product offering beyond the more traditional asset classes has also been part of the bank’s strategy. In collaboration with Tatra Asset Management, the bank launched a number of private growth funds especially designed for private banking clients. It has also put in place an equity crowdfunding platform to support start-ups, and it offers clients advice and access to art, real estate and gold investments, among others.

• Best private bank in South Africa
• Winner: Investec

Investec has won in this category for the sixth year running, after a strong year both in South Africa and globally – operating income showed another double-digit increase, rising 14% to R6.88bn ($458m).

The private bank partly credits this to its efforts to build specific product and value propositions for each segment when acquiring clients. Its acquisition strategy includes different propositions for accountants, lawyers, medics and degreed, salaried executives at leading corporates. It also segments further by life stage, with different approaches for young professionals, young families, ultra-high-net-worth individuals and business clients (for example, young professionals can access the full offering for a reduced monthly fee). 

The private bank also has even younger clients in mind. In 2017, it launched the Investec Youth Account, a fully transactional account but for no monthly fee, available exclusively to the children (aged under 25) of existing private bank account holders. Hitherto, they had to go into a bank branch and endure queues to open an account for their child. Under the new system, however, the process is online, with their Investec Visa card delivered to their door. Investec says parents have welcomed this innovation, partly because they wanted a way to teach their children practically about banking and the value of money and saving. “The Youth Account not only exposes the children, who are also prospective future clients, to our private banking products and services,” says Investec. “It has also improved and strengthened our relationships with families.”

In 2017, the number of client-facing staff at the private bank, which topped 800, rose by much more than the number of clients. Investec attributes this to a focus on client acquisition, with headcount also increasing in anticipation of higher client numbers.

The wealth manager remains a big offshore specialist, servicing the 45% of assets under management that are invested offshore. This expertise includes teams of tax and fiduciary specialists who guide clients in navigating what it refers to as “the increasingly complex global regulatory environment”. Offshore services are made easier by the large network of offices around the world, including a presence in the offshore centres of the Channel Islands and Mauritius. 

• Best private bank in Spain
• Winner: Santander Private Banking

In the final quarter of 2017, Santander launched a global wealth management division, integrating its private banking and asset management businesses. Under the structure, the group hopes to provide better service to Santander’s global private banking customers and build on its competitive advantage in key markets in Europe and the Americas.

With its new global division for wealth, Santander aims to extract the full value of belonging to one of the world’s largest financial services groups. The bank has identified several synergies and opportunities and implemented a new collaboration framework, not only among the private banking and asset management units but also among countries and other divisions of the bank, such as Santander Corporate & Investment Banking.

“We are already seeing the impact of this initiative in growth numbers but most importantly our customers’ experience has been positively impacted and this is something that we keep hearing directly from them. Cross-country referrals are up by 50% in some locations,” says Victor Matarranz, head of wealth management at Santander.

Mr Matarranz sees open architecture and partnerships with third-party distributors as key for enhancing the quality of the advisory services they provide, while establishing high due diligence standards to comply with the fiduciary duties of their business.

“We are working on establishing long-term collaboration agreements with a selected group of managers related to distribution, advisory and knowledge exchange. For the high- and ultra-high-net-worth segment, differentiation and access to the best-in-class providers is essential, especially in the more sophisticated alternative investments assets. We are developing an alternatives platform and a global products platform,” he adds.

Other initiatives included the development of a private wealth model and value proposition for customers with more than Ä20m, the implementation of a global product strategy which will see the launch of 11 global products, and a digital transformation.

“We want to be the best wealth manager in Europe and the Americas. This involves the creation of a consistent and global private banking offer in all our geographies and making Santander Asset Management the manager of choice in our key geographies. Santander has decided to invest in this segment, and we will deliver,” adds Mr Matarranz. 

• Best private bank in Sweden
• Winner: SEB Private Banking

SEB Private Banking has worked hard to offer clients the kind of experience not necessarily available to them at other wealth managers, let alone if they were investing on their own. This has been based in part on its skill in capitalising on its existence with the larger SEB banking group. For example, clients have been offered investment in initial public offerings on which SEB is bookrunner before they hit the stock market.

Another example is its Innovation Forum, a meeting place for entrepreneurs and potential investors. Business incubators use the forum to invite start-ups to pitch for potential investors from among SEB Private Banking’s client base. An example of a company that client invested in was Karma, which sells, at a discount, food from restaurants and grocery stores that would otherwise be wasted.

The attempt to offer clients something different is based partly on segmentation, with SEB Private Banking tailoring its service to, for example, ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) – defined by the wealth manager as those with more than SKr50m ($5.5m) in investable assets. It puts a lot of thought into how to educate the younger scions of these families. For example, the theme for one recent weekend event was ‘Shifting generations and sustainability’, with more than 20 participants aged between 18 and 35 from the Nordics and Germany.

More generally, SEB Private Banking is working hard outside its home country of Sweden, with a strong focus on UNHWIs – it now offers family office services in every Nordic country, as well as Luxembourg. In 2015, it established a growth strategy for Norway focusing on family offices. The wealth manager says that in 2017 this “really started to pay off”, with larger inflows of customers. 

• Best private bank in Taiwan
• Winner: Taishin International Bank

Taiwan is fast becoming a key market for wealth management in Asia. According to a recent Capgemini Asia-Pacific Wealth Report, the number of high-net-worth individuals in Taiwan grew from 94,000 in 2010 to 142,400 in 2017.

At the same time, the country’s population is getting older faster, which presents private banks with many challenges. Crucially important for the sector is the fact that a large proportion of accumulated wealth still drains away during the transition from one generation to the next. 

“This is because banks don’t develop strong relationships with customers’ next generations,” says Samuel Lin, deputy CEO at Taishin Bank. “On the other hand, most of the wealth in Taiwan is held by old-age households. In order to stop wealth draining during the transition process, it is extremely important to develop long-lasting relationships with the next generation.”

With this in mind, Taishin Bank launched a household membership wealth management programme, becoming the first financial institution in Taiwan to promote wealth management services in association with child accounts. The aim is to assist clients in preserving and managing family wealth across generations through a comprehensive range of wealth management services, including customised trusts, insurance and investment planning solutions. Furthermore, family members can accumulate their assets to enjoy a range of privileges such as special offers on transaction fees. 

During 2017, the bank implemented its Omni Channel service, bringing together several digital initiatives, including a financial intelligence app to help advisers deliver real-time asset allocation suggestions when out of the office; a digital bank called Richart, launched in 2016 to attract younger customers; and a number of other digital technologies for fast transfers and payments. 

• Best private bank in Thailand
• Winner: Kasikornbank

Kasikornbank Private Banking continues to plough its own idiosyncratic furrow, with an emphasis on maintaining what it calls a “worry-free life” for clients.

Responding to this imperative, it offers the K-Alpha 2.0 investment model, under which the portfolio is divided into core and satellite sections. The core section makes long-term investments in less risky funds, with the satellite section devoted to higher volatility funds designed to improve overall portfolio return. This allows portfolio managers to adjust client assets in an opportunistic response to circumstances but without making dramatic adjustments to the overall asset allocation, and without bothering the client too often.

The $22bn wealth manager’s approach continues to work well for its business, with another strong year of growth in 2017. Net income surged by 57% in local currency terms, with 8% growth in client numbers to almost 11,000. Kasikornbank Private Banking estimates that the number of high-net-worth (HNW) individuals in the country is growing at between 1% and 3% annually, but it is increasing its market share of this, with another two percentage point rise to 36% in 2017 cementing its position as the country’s predominant wealth manager. 

The number of client-facing staff was ramped up by 31% to almost 60. One facet of this expansion was the 2017 launch of a new service to attract wealthy Chinese people living in Thailand, with all important information translated into Chinese, and the assignment of Chinese-speaking private bankers to clients.

Both quality and brand are supported by a partnership with Swiss bank Lombard Odier. In line with a 2014 agreement, Lombard Odier manages global investment funds on behalf of Kasikornbank’s private clients in return for a fee. Moreover, Kasikornbank refers HNW private clients to Lombard Odier, where appropriate, while the Swiss firm provides advisory training for the Thai bank’s relationship managers and financial advisers at a three-week training camp at its Geneva headquarters. 

• Best private bank in Turkey
• Winner: Akbank Private Banking

In 2017, Akbank’s private banking activities and the investment service functions of its retail bank were transferred into a new division under the name of Akbank Private Banking and Wealth Management Services.

The private bank offers both standard banking services and alternative financial products through a network of seven dedicated branches across Turkey – in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir – and private banking ‘corners’ at some retail branches.

Private bankers are supported by specialists from the group’s investment affiliates, Ak Investment and Ak Asset Management. “We provide a privileged service to our clients, assist them with their investment decisions, and generate custom solutions tailored to specific clients, as needed,” says Alp Keler, private banking and wealth management executive vice-president at Akbank.

The vision of Akbank Private Banking is to maximise customer experience and simplify business processes, with the support of technology and digitalisation. With that in mind, efforts have been made to improve and redesign the experience provided to upper segment clients.

“Ultra-high-net-worth clients have exceptional and sophisticated requirements, therefore an expert team has been dedicated to provide them with advice and tailor-made solutions. Our strategy has been to focus on offering a more sophisticated service to this niche client segment, in order to generate a higher profit/client ratio. We are doing this through our holistic approach to family wealth, the redesign of our premium customer experience, and our new, integrated business model with our investment affiliates,” says Mr Keler.

This new, more integrated approach to private banking also entails developing solutions for transferring family wealth to the future generations, an area where Akbank has been focused on since launching its Next Generation Programme in collaboration with Sabancı University and the Centre of Excellence in Finance. The first of its kind in Turkey, the initiative aims to educate young people on the concepts of family wealth and responsibility, investment diversification, risk, economics and philanthropy. 

• Best private bank in the United Arab Emirates
• Winner: Julius Baer (Middle East)

Julius Baer’s decision to make Dubai the hub of its emerging markets activity clearly shows the bank’s confidence in the growth opportunities in the Middle East. 

“Julius Baer’s core strategic priorities are rooted in capturing strong wealth creation dynamics here, expanding our client portfolio, and increasing our market penetration,” says Rémy Bersier, head emerging markets and member of the executive board at Bank Julius Baer.

The Swiss institution was the first international private bank to be granted a licence to operate in the Dubai International Financial Centre in 2004, and since then it has boosted its geographical presence, with additional offices in Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Cairo and Manama offering advisory and wealth management services.

“Over the years, we have achieved a high level of local market understanding, which further helped us foster trusted relationships with clients,” says Mr Bersier. Being a pure private banking player, its open architecture approach, client-centric model and innovative mindset are its key differentiating factors, he adds.

Most wealth in the Middle East is concentrated in family-run businesses, and countries are kingdoms run by royal families who expect high levels of service. “Investors across the Gulf Co-operation Council are becoming increasingly sophisticated in terms of their knowledge of financial products and investments, and have become far more demanding of the quality of advice they expect from banks,” says Mr Bersier.

To counter global macroeconomic headwinds, clients are looking for investments that protect their capital while meeting their specific needs, he adds, saying: “We work closely with all our clients to determine their investment and risk profile, and then accordingly provide them with bespoke advice for their needs.” One area Julius Baer’ staff “constantly” advise clients on is the diversification of assets, as this represents the starting point for building a portfolio. 

Unlike many competitors, Julius Baer enjoys a very low staff turnover in the region, according to Mr Bersier. This year, it has also broadened its base of experienced relationship managers in several teams covering the Middle East, with more expected to join. 

• Best private bank for customer service (Australasia)
• Winner: Westpac NZ

Embracing the philosophy that satisfied staff leads to satisfied clients, Westpac has been focusing on retaining and growing its employees, and the efforts are now paying off, according to Katie Christoffersen, head of Westpac Private Wealth Management (PWM).

At Westpac, the average tenure of staff is more than 12 years. “Low turnover is critical as private banking is fundamentally a relationship business with clients remembering those life moments and our advisers’ role in those,” says Ms Christoffersen.

Promoting flexible working has enabled the bank to keep and develop its top people, she adds, with two-thirds of Westpac New Zealand staff now working flexibly. Westpac’s focus on encouraging gender equality and diversity has also “empowered staff”, with all employees completing unconscious bias training last year. At the bank, 50% of the PWM leadership team are women, versus less than 30% in leadership roles in New Zealand businesses. The bank’s average client tenure is more than 23 years, and their bankers have often accompanied them throughout their financial journey from the beginning. 

As part of complying with domestic regulation and implementing recommendations of the Australian Bankers’ Association, last year the institution embedded a staff performance management system called Motivate. This is a ‘behaviours first’ framework rewarding staff for behaviours that deliver a ‘customer-centric outcome’. 

“Our staff are asked about specific examples of customer-centric behaviours in their monthly check-ins, as well as their quarterly reviews. This ensures we encourage, celebrate and reward great client outcomes as part of our staff’s performance management,” says Ms Christoffersen.

A successful initiative in 2017 was the collaboration between PWM and the corporate and institutional bank, which allowed assisting business owners’ transition from business ownership to personal wealth.

The roll-out of an online financial planning tool, xPlan, has also halved private bankers’ plan-writing time, giving advisers more time in front of the client. 

• Best private bank for customer service (Europe)
• Best brand campaign in private banking
• Winner: Lombard Odier

With more than $280bn in client assets,of which 50% are in wealth management, Lombard Odier takes pride in its continued ability to offer bespoke products and services to clients, supported by a digital platform developed over the past 25 years and a comprehensive sustainable investment offering. This is legitimised by the bank’s heritage in this space, dating back to the 1840s, when managing partner Alexandre Lombard warned clients against southern US companies using slave labour.  

There are “no shortcuts” to delivering a truly bespoke service, says Duncan MacIntyre, UK CEO at Lombard Odier. “It means you have to maintain, as we do, a very low ratio of bankers to clients and it means you go the extra mile.” This may involve arranging loans over the Christmas weekend, contacting every single client when markets wobble as they did in February, or maintaining a rich and varied schedule of knowledge events, he adds.

As the next three years are likely to offer a contrast to the “calm economic waters” of the previous three, an attentive client service gains even more importance. “When the waters get choppy, that’s when our promise of genuinely bespoke private banking really comes into its own,” says Mr MacIntyre.

The bank’s ability to adapt, evolve and innovate throughout its 222-year history and 40 financial crises has inspired its striking brand campaign, with content and communication signals unusual for banking. “We have been able to look at the world’s evolutions, and rethink how we can respond to the advantage of our clients. The Rethink Everything campaign has simply built on this philosophy,” says Fabio Mancone, Lombard Odier’s chief branding officer. 

“The campaign’s goal is to intrigue, and lead the target audiences to think about key trends that may have an impact on their investments,” he adds, enthusing over the latest “crucial chapter” of the campaign, fully centred on the sustainability revolution. “This underscores our belief that sustainable investing is a huge opportunity for our clients – perhaps the biggest in modern history,” says Mr Mancone.

• Best private bank for customer service (US)
• Best private bank for family offices
• Winner: Northern Trust

For Northern Trust, the combination of human endeavours and digital tools is the keystone of the bank’s wealth management strategy. “Human relationships will always be essential to our business, and innovative technology has become integral to those relationships,” says Steven Fradkin, president of Northern Trust Wealth Management. “It’s the combination of both that allows us to drive a powerfully differentiated experience for our clients, and we are constantly seeking to evolve that experience.”

Central to the experience Northern hopes to provide is the Goals Powered Solutions platform, which combines algorithms with a mobile app designed to make conversations between clients and advisers more effective through interactive visuals that simplify complex investment decisions.

The main priorities of the wealthy families who make up the lion’s share of the Chicago-based bank’s clientele include succession planning for both family and business; security and protection of both the individual and business against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, tax changes and transgenerational wealth transfer; control and governance, including best practices for aggregation of data and choosing service providers; and asset allocation, especially to new-style sustainable alternative strategies and impact investments, plus co-investment ideas with other families.

The belief at Northern Trust is that appropriate management of environmental, social and corporate governance factors can create long-term shareholder value. “We align our business with the fundamental principle of sustainability, meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” says David Fox, president of Northern Trust’s global family and private investment offices group. 

Today, the incorporation of environmental, social and governance factors into investment analysis is seen as a central plank of the group’s responsibility as an asset manager. Both banks and families are becoming more innovative in the way they implement these principles, says Mr Fox. He sees families moving beyond traditional foundations to concepts such as “opportunity zone investments” as well as increasing exposure to newer asset classes such as private equity.

• Best private bank for growth strategy
• Best private bank for alternatives
• Winner: LGT

Organic growth and acquisitions have continued to drive LGT’s growth, with assets under management (AuM) soaring almost 40% to reach $147bn in 2017.

“Our main objective is to grow organically, but we are able to take advantage of the ongoing market consolidation to make attractive acquisitions,” says Thomas Piske, CEO at LGT Private Banking. Besides reviewing a wide range of economic and financial factors, as part of the due diligence process, an acquisition goes ahead only when the business and client structure are compatible, and there is good cultural fit, he says. 

The bank, owned and controlled by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, has a primary goal of continuing to strengthen its market position in the regions in which it operates, namely Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Last year, the purchase of ABN Amro’s private banking business in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, with $20bn in AuM, enabled the firm to boost its footprint in the fast-growing Asian market, where it has had an uninterrupted presence since 1986. “We started out as a small foreign bank over 30 years ago and are now among the top five European banks in Asia,” says Mr Piske.

While size is important in order to take advantage of economies of scale and synergies, LGT has not set any growth target for the future, focusing rather on the quality of assets and revenues. Good client service and attractive products are key for continuing to grow sustainably, he explains.  

When it comes to products, the bank boasts 20 years of experience in alternatives, having started allocating to them in 1998, within the LGT Endowment Fund. LGT’s asset management arm, focusing on alternative investments and multi-asset solutions, experienced strong demand last year, including from private clients. 

“We have seen a rising demand for alternatives, and private equity and insurance-linked strategies have been particularly popular with private clients lately,” says Mr Piske. Investors are advised to include alternatives in their portfolios because of their return-enhancement and diversification benefits, particularly in the current market environment. 

• Best private bank for sustainable and impact investing
• Best private bank for entrepreneurs
• Winner: UBS Global Wealth Management

Client demand for sustainable and impact investing is substantial and expanding, particularly among UBS’s ultra-high-net-worth clients. According to a 2017 survey, 28% of the bank’s family office clients have already engaged in impact investing, with 40% expecting to increase their allocation over time. In a separate survey – titled UBS Investor Watch – 93% of high-net-worth clients who are already invested sustainably believe they are not giving up any performance in return for adhering to environmental, social and governance criteria when investing.

The bank says it is committed to sustainable investment as a philosophy, seeking financial returns while also meeting social needs and making a positive impact on the environment and society, including engaging with young people through bodies such as UBS Optimus Foundation.

In this sphere, UBS is particularly proud of its Oncology Impact Fund, a private equity fund focused on breakthrough cancer therapies, which has generated high double-digit returns for clients as well as contributing $2.5m to philanthropic causes, including improvement of healthcare access by children and their families in the developing world, as well as re-investments in cancer research.

The evaluation of different instruments for their sustainability benefits is far from universal to the investment process at UBS, but it is becoming more and more important in client dialogue and engagement, with the bank believing some investment types can help to align with investor values event if they do not directly create a positive impact on the world. There are also investment types where UBS does not see sustainable investing opportunities currently, but hopes to identify them in future, in the hedge funds realm, for example. 

Personal engagement with entrepreneurial clients is also a key part of the bank’s future direction. UBS reports that clients often ask for introductions to other business owners within the bank’s network or seek their advice on specific issues. It is becoming more and more difficult to facilitate such connections in an ‘analogue’ format, which is not scaleable across a large client base, so the bank is building a digital platform for this client segment.

• Best private bank for diversity
• Winner: Deutsche Bank Wealth Management

Diversity and inclusion have far-reaching benefits in business, having a positive impact on employee performance, growth and innovation. 

In line with increasing global awareness, private banks’ leaders are realising the importance of endorsing the values of understanding and appreciating differences of clients and staff within their institution.

Deutsche Bank stands out in this area thanks to the promotion of several initiatives, including the global roll-out of a mentoring programme for women, following the success of a pilot scheme in London last year. The bank also launched an executive training programme for mid-level women employees in the UK and is planning to extend it to other regions. Speakers at the Women 20 Summit on female leadership in Berlin in 2017, which the bank sponsored, included Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde and Ivanka Trump. 

Employees take part in unconscious bias training to promote a culture of inclusion and openness, both internally and with clients.

“Diverse minds lead to better decisions,” says Fabrizio Campelli, global head of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management. “At the same time, though, what really makes a difference is making diversity an integral part of our management and decision making process. Like the rest of our industry, we still have work to do, but we’re making progress,” he adds.  

The bank features 78 nationalities globally, most of its top relationship managers are women, and women also represent 35% of the supervisory board. Among other awards, the institution was named as one of the world’s best places to work for LGBTQ equality by Human Rights Campaign. 

• Best private banking boutique
• Winner: Banque Syz

Banque Syz, which manages SFr37bn ($37bn), split almost evenly between the asset management and private banking business lines, has found fame predominantly for its investment expertise, bringing institutional techniques to wealthy families.

Under the leadership of Eric Syz (a vocal, erudite and visionary banker, who has the ear of business clients that share his own entrepreneurial mindset), the boutique bank has just about shaken off its ‘enfant terrible’ status as it moves ever closer to the size of local competitors such as Pictet and Lombard Odier.

To reflect this growth, the bank has moved from its old headquarters on Geneva’s main shopping street of Rue du Rhone, across the lake to more spacious premises on the Quai des Bergues. Yet the eclectic, verging on eccentric, interior design of the new headquarters, adorned by a collection of bold artworks, suggests Syz will not be doing everything according to the old school Geneva playbook. Mr Syz affirms that he wants to keep “upsetting the status quo” and remain a “disruptive force” in Geneva’s staid private banking community.

Despite the resignation of asset management head Katia Coudray, Mr Syz pledges a continuation of her work in developing multi-asset, specialist debt and quantitative client solutions. “This striving for innovation is now reflected in our DNA as a group,” he says. “Our priority remains to keep clients at the forefront of product development and cutting-edge portfolio construction.”

Although Mr Syz claims the group remains committed to the space it pioneered in 1996, of managing hedge funds and selecting leading managers, there has been a fall-back in demand in this sphere, as Swiss clients ran scared from the twin troubles of the global financial crisis and the Madoff funds debacle, although a potential revival in hedge funds is not being written off by any means. 

Instead, there is more emphasis on other alternatives products, embracing private equity and special situations. “Our client base is mainly composed of entrepreneurs who understand the real economic benefits of private equity,” says Mr Syz. He is now trying to blend these different strategies into an “asset allocation that emphasises uncorrelated returns and is supported by investing in funds that demonstrate sustainable alpha-generation”. The bank has also started to provide add-ons for family offices and smaller private banks. 

• Best private bank for philanthropy services
• Winner: Coutts & Co

Since the financial crisis, there has been a surge in major philanthropy involving donations of £1m ($1.3m) or more, and an increasing focus on responsible and social investing, with more attention to tracking progress and impact, according to Lenka Setkova, head of the Coutts Institute, drawing on the results of the firm’s 10-year anniversary Million Pound Donors Report. Specialist advice offered to philanthropists has also been growing. 

“Philanthropy is driven by people’s passions, interests, values or concerns. In many families it is not only an important expression of the meaning and purpose of wealth, but it can also be a wonderful way to convey family values and engage the next generation in exploring the positive impact they can make,” she says. 

With the support of the bank’s trust and charity investment teams, the Coutts Institute helps clients put their strategies and ambitions into practice, ensuring that their philanthropy is both effective and rewarding, she adds.

“Exploring motivations for philanthropy is an important starting point. We then help clients develop strategies to help them make best use of the resources they would like to bring to their philanthropy, which may include money, time, skills or networks,” says Ms Setkova.

Through philanthropy forums and thought leadership, the bank provides opportunities for clients and well-established charitable foundations to learn from and collaborate with others who share similar passions and interests. 

Coutts also runs bespoke philanthropy workshops with clients’ children and grandchildren, as philanthropy can be a key topic of discussion around wealth succession and family values. “The sooner families are encouraged to start considering wealth succession, the better. There are techniques parents can use with children as young as five to start conveying the family’s views on the meaning and purpose of wealth.” 

Trust and communication within the family about wealth, and preparing the next generation for the challenges and opportunities that wealth brings, are the two key ingredients to ensuring that wealth succession is a success, says Ms Setkova. 

• Best private bank for succession planning
• Winner: Société Générale Private Banking

One of the most recent achievements for French banking stalwart Société Générale,based in the glass and concrete financial enclave of La Défense in north-west Paris, has been the acquisition of UK firm Kleinwort Benson in 2016. This led to its integration with SGPB Hambros to create a £14bn ($18.3bn) London-based wealth manager, SG Kleinwort Hambros, now integrated fully into SG Private Banking (SGPB), which manages total assets of Ä117bn.

According to private banking boss Jean-François Mazaud, much of the new thinking for the French bank comes from London rather than Paris. This has given SGPB a much greater strength in the softer side of wealth management, including succession planning, a key specialism of the London hub in St James’s Square.

The SG group is now left with expertise in both English and common law procedures, and the French-style civil law prescriptive approach to succession planning. Of the two, the former is more valuable to the bank’s international operations, especially after it pulled out of Asia, as London has essentially become SG’s window to the world, and the key gateway and booking centre for its international clients.

SG is today positioning itself as a digitally led institution, focused on business owners and entrepreneurs. Along with serving clients in the transition of assets to the millennial generation, the bank is incorporating ambitions regarding impact investing and philanthropy into the succession plans. “Social and financial legacies are increasingly forming part of a single family discussion and the manner of giving has changed considerably in the past 10-plus years,” says Mr Mazaud. “Simple, large donations are a thing of the past, with impact investing and participative philanthropy increasing, where clients wish to support causes with both money and their own skillset.”

He confirms the French bank’s scaling down of its global ambitions, with the onus now on European markets closer to home, means SG can now concentrate on and develop its key areas of expertise. “Succession and wealth transition are an increasing concern for all wealthy families and we see it as a fundamental component of the broader wealth management offer,” he says. 

• Best private bank for Islamic services
• Winner: Maybank

The largest bank in Malaysia by market capitalisation,Maybank strives for excellence in the Islamic private banking space through Maybank Islamic Berhad (MIB), the largest Islamic finance provider in Asia-Pacific, with $50bn in assets under management. 

“We offer a full suite of Islamic private wealth solutions encompassing the whole spectrum of wealth management from wealth creation, accumulation, protection and distribution on one platform,” says Dato’ Mohamed Rafique Merican bin Mohamad Wahiduddin Merican, CEO of MIB.

The ethical values embedded in these products and services make them appealing to all investors, regardless of race and religion, he claims. The bank offers sharia-compliant investment funds from six different fund houses under its open architecture platform as well as sukuk [Islamic bonds].

Mr bin Mohamad Wahiduddin Merican sees huge potential for future product innovation and sharia research initiatives, which should in turn open up new markets. “We will continue to improve on and expand our services within the Islamic financial services industry. In our mission to meet our customers’ discerning needs in and outside Malaysia, we will continue to develop more sharia-compliant investment instruments.”

Maybank’s Sharia Centre of Excellence, the first of its kind in the country, is a virtual centre that aims to be the leading reference point on sharia knowledge and best practices focusing on research and education, talent development, thought leadership and community welfare.

• Best performing private bank (KPI quantitative analysis by Scorpio Partnership)
• Winner: Kotak Wealth Management

Kotak Wealth Management is one of the oldest wealth managers in India, with more than 20 years of experience in the sector. Part of the Kotak Mahindra Bank group, the firm manages the wealth of more than 40% of India’s 100 richest families.

In recent years, the bank has altered its business model from a transaction-oriented to an advisory approach. The strength of its advisory proposition – based on the pillars of asset allocation, open architecture and alignment of interests – has helped to attract new clients and prospects. In parallel, a fixed advisory fee has allowed the bank to tackle increased allocation to lower margin asset classes.

“Very clearly, [open architecture] is one of the biggest strengths of Kotak. Having no conflict of interest is very, very critical. And [this] can only be achieved by having an open architecture philosophy,” says Jaideep Hansraj, CEO, wealth management and priority banking, at Kotak Mahindra Bank. 

Kotak provides family office services to ultra-high-net-worth investors, focusing on building, preserving and transferring family wealth and legacy. It offers a strategic view on the client’s overall portfolio across multiple advisers, in addition to comprehensive financial solutions that go beyond investments. These include assistance with investment structuring, banking and credit, consolidated reporting, as well as philanthropy and concierge services. The bank’s Trusteeship Services division offers estate planning services helping clients with succession planning activities through the creation of private family trusts.

Wealth management customers’ digital experience was enhanced with the launch of the Kotak Smart Solutions mobile application for portfolio viewing and management. A comprehensive content repository and sharing platform that enables SMS and WhatsApp-based information sharing in real time was also enabled.

“Wealth managers have to offer a complete range of services to clients. People, product, platform: all three are crucial in the wealth management business,” says Mr Hansraj. Looking ahead, he believes one of the challenges facing the private banking sector in India is being able to continue to manage growth “at an unprecedented rate”, while not compromising on quality of advice. 

• Best leader
• Winner: Guy de Picciotto, Union Bancaire Privée

Guy de Picciotto is very much his own man. He had a huge influence on the direction of Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), even when his late father Edgar, who founded the bank in 1969, was still alive. Yet the younger Mr de Picciotto, if we can still call him that, is still to some extent driven by his father’s memory and example. 

His father was motivated by a desire to prove wrong the Geneva society gossips who laughed at the newcomer bank to the lake’s shores, claiming it could never compete with the likes of Pictet and Lombard Odier. 

Mr de Picciotto the younger says he has no inferiority complex and this legacy does not bother him. Yet there is something very steely, calculating and driven about the way he is steadily building a small, family-owned Geneva institution into a fully fledged player in Asia, with growing assets and ambitions. The asset base after recent acquisitions, including the international division of Coutts, with UBP managing SFr128bn ($128bn), shows the bank is now competing with the big boys.

Two more acquisitions are expected to complete at the end of 2018, subject to regulatory approval. These are the buy-up of Banque Carnegie Luxembourg, which significantly broadens UBP’s footprint in the Grand Duchy, and London-based investment manager ACPI Investments, which will reinforce the strategic London presence. Italy is also earmarked for further expansion and the bank will start to accelerate organic growth plans in “development regions” including the Middle East, central Europe and Latin America.

But this is not a heartless expansion plan. Client care is key to the strategy. An appreciation of succession planning, in terms of assets, business and leadership makes Mr de Picciotto particularly suited to the top job. He re-invented the bank after a love affair with hedge funds went badly wrong in 2008, and reimbursed clients to the tune of $500m to cover a proportion of losses suffered by victims of jailed fraudster Bernie Madoff.

The bank’s assets almost halved in 2010 after the hedge fund bubble burst, but he has remodelled the operation to embrace more traditional investments. Like most Swiss banks, UBP was also required to settle with the US Department of Justice in 2016.