Switzerland’s UBS Group heads the Top 10 list of global private banks with $1031.2bn in assets under management, according to the latest report from wealth management consultancy, Scorpio Partnership.

The report noted that the private banking industry was growing at nearly 15% in terms of assets under management (AUM) – a return to levels last recorded in the late 1990s.

The industry managed in excess of $4600bn in financial assets from individual multimillionaires, according to the report.

The US’s Merrill Lynch came second in the ranking,with $935bn in AUM, well ahead of Credit Suisse Group, in third place with $394bn in AUM in 2003.

Profits at the leading houses were also up in 2003, although in many cases, according to Scorpio, the improvements did not mirror the increases in AUM. The improvement in business performance had only occurred in the past six to nine months and the overall profit levels were not expected to show signs of this growth until the end of 2004, said the report.

The industry should be cautiously optimistic because there was still plenty of work to do on updating the underlying business models, said Sebastian Dovey, managing partner at Scorpio.

TOP 10 GLOBAL PRIVATE BANKS

Ranking - Bank - AUM ($bn) 2003

1 UBS Group 1031.2

2 Merrill Lynch - 935.0

3 Credit Suisse Group - 393.0

4 Deutsche Bank Private - 183.0

5 HSBC Private - 169.0

6 Citigroup Private - 145.0

7 JP Morgan Chase Private - 138.0

8 Dresdner Bank - 133.0

9 Morgan Stanley - 130.0

10 ABN Amro - 115.5

Source: Scorpio Partnership

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