The global private banking industry is back on its feet for the first time this decade with improved profits and increased assets under management, says wealth management consultancy Scorpio Partnership.
In its 2004 private banking benchmark study, Scorpio said that among 27 comparable private banking institutions, pre-tax profits were up 30.4% in US dollar terms. The strong results were supported by an industry-wide 13.1% rise in assets under management.
While private banking profits can be difficult to obtain, the top five comparable banks (UBS Wealth Management, Credit Suisse Private Banking, RBS Wealth Management, Citigroup Private Bank and HSBC Private Bank) achieved $7.6bn in combined pre-tax profits, a 30.1% increase on 2003.
Among the top 10 global private banking institutions, UBS retained pole position with $1295bn, up 16.2%, while Merrill Lynch broke into the trillion-dollar club with $1,030bn in fee-based assets under management, up 10.2%.
JPMorgan Private Bank had a 14.3% increase and maintained fourth position while ABN AMRO jumped one position to ninth with a strong 22.5% growth in assets under management.
Banks staying in the same position while experiencing an increase in assets under management were UBS, Credit Suisse, and Dresdner Private Banking. Wachovia Wealth Management was the new top 10 entrant this year with $147bn.
There are now 16 institutions with more than $100bn in fee-based assets under management, compared with 13 in the previous year.
