14 Best Private Banks In The World
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Table of Contents
Introduction
The best private banks in the world are profiled in this article’s detail section. The list in the next section includes the most well-known private bankers.
HNWIs typically have more complex financial needs than the majority of retail customers. These are people whose possessions are simple to liquidate.
Although there is no agreement on the amount needed to fall into this category, it is safe to assume that you would need at least $1 million. However, according to Charles Schwab, you must have at least $2.3 million to qualify as wealthy.
HNWIs frequently turn to private banks to meet their financial needs, regardless of how much money they have on hand.
These financial institutions provide a variety of services under one roof, including trust and estate planning and investment management.
Rich clients typically have a dedicated private banker or relationship manager assigned to them. Their sole point of contact for all of their financial concerns is this expert.
Since they provide general public banking services, the majority of these names might sound familiar. Although each institution’s assets under management (AUM) are updated as of the end of 2022, the banks are ranked according to the list’s ranking.
14 Best Private Banks in the World
1. J.P. Morgan Private Bank
Adjectives used to describe J.P. Morgan Private Bank could include “transparent.” It is for this reason that the bank is one of the best private banks in the world.
It publishes its financials quarterly for public consumption and is one of the few international banks to have made private banking a reportable segment. Furthermore, the financials are impressive.
In the first half of 2021, private banks had global revenue of $3.76 billion, up 14% from the previous year (YOY).
As of June 30, 2021, the private banking client segment’s assets under management (AUM) increased by 19% year over year to $752 billion.
With a total AUM of $3 trillion, which included the global institutional and global funds client segments, private banking accounted for about a quarter of the institution’s total AUM.
In the US and abroad, the bank received praise for private banking across a variety of regions and clientele. The company wins the title of Best Private Bank in the World for this year, as well as for 2021 and 2020.
The bank is aware that many high-net-worth (HNW) clients today have investing objectives related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG).
As a result, it decided in June to buy OpenInvest, a San Francisco-based values-based investing platform, enabling the private bank to build more customized portfolios for its HNW clients.
2. UBS
The leading private banking institutions in Switzerland weren’t the first to join the sustainable investing bandwagon, but they are now numerous and moving quickly. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
When UBS announced that sustainable investments would become its “preferred solution” for wealth management clients investing globally, it marked a significant advancement for one of the world’s largest banks to the wealthy.
UBS claims that by making the change, it became the first major global financial institution to recommend sustainable over traditional solutions for its wealthy clients, who have $1.2 trillion in invested assets.
Sustainable investments accounted for 18.9% of UBS’ advised investments by the end of 2020, up from just 13.5% in 2019.
Even among wealthy clients of UBS in the Asia-Pacific region, sustainable investments have recently increased dramatically, going from $1 billion in January 2020 to $4.5 billion by the end of June 2021.
Additionally, the bank is giving customers more options for investing.
Climate change, water, pollution and waste, people, products and services, and governance are the six sustainable investing pillars that UBS identified as being most crucial for guiding businesses and industries toward a sustainable future.
In July, UBS announced that its wealth management clients could begin customizing the advice they receive along these pillars.
ESG-based offerings’ inclusion hasn’t had a negative impact on profitability. The largest division of UBS, Global Wealth Management, reported a pretax profit of $4.2 billion for the first nine months of 2021, up 34% year over year.
3. Hana Bank
The Hana Bank in South Korea makes use of cutting-edge technology to support its cradle-to-grave private banking services—and isn’t afraid to have fun doing it. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
A local celebrity who works for Hana Bank demonstrates how to build and manage wealth in a bank-produced video. On YouTube, the video has received over 100,000 views. In other videos, challenging financial issues are addressed with the help of the bank’s internal tax, legal, real estate, and trust experts.
The bank asserts that it is of the opinion that clients want to be offered differentiated experiences across their entire lifestyle as well as financial services and that this is not just true for high net worth clients.
According to bank representatives, HB has developed cutting-edge digital private banking services for mass customers as well as VIP customers.
The bank provides specialized services in the HNW market for the entire family, not just the head or patriarch. Children’s activities for the grandchildren, “match-making” assistance for the adult children, and support services for weddings and funerals are a few examples.
In order to reach emerging millennials, Hana Bank has also introduced a brand-new digital service that combines finance with online games. The games were created by well-known Korean online game publisher Netmarble.
During the Covid-19 crisis, the bank launched life-care services via mobile social network services like YouTube and the Kakao talk channel. This was done in an effort to stay in touch with its customers.
Private banking at Hana Bank, which employs 731 people and serves 36,373 clients, increased its AUM to $58.3 billion in 2020 from $56.6 billion in 2019.
4. Fieldpoint Private
One of the wealth advisory and private banking boutiques with the fastest rate of growth worldwide is Fieldpoint Private, based in the US. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
It started in Connecticut and has since spread to New York City, Georgia, and Florida. Most recently, it surpassed $5 billion in wealth AUM and $1 billion in bank balance-sheet assets.
Fieldpoint Private provides wealth transfer advice, tax planning, aggregation and performance reporting, risk management, goals-based investment strategies, investment selection, individualized banking, tailored credit offerings, bespoke custody and trust offerings, and concierge services for extremely wealthy people.
The symbiotic relationship between the firm’s banking and wealth advisory offerings—namely, providing commercial and personal banking along with investment guidance and wealth management—has been highlighted by Russell Holland, president and CEO of the firm’s banking unit.
In an August press release, he stated, “By understanding the big picture for our clients, we’re able to take care of all the small details[, allowing] our clients to focus less on the mechanics of their finances and wealth and more on running their businesses and enjoying their lives.”
5. DBS Private Bank
Years before the Covid-19 pandemic, DBS was a pioneer in the provision of digital client services. While the pandemic was spreading, it won awards for digital transformation, and it is still innovating today.
In the early stages of the crisis, a Singaporean bank introduced TeleAdvisory, which enables clients to communicate with their wealth planning managers through videoconferencing tools. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
Additionally, DBS implemented a paperless credit submission process and increased active engagement and monitoring of credit portfolios through portfolio stress-testing intended to better prepare for pandemic challenges.
In 2021, the bank added new features to its DBS digibank (previously known as iWealth app), which enables wealthy clients to carry out daily banking transactions, manage their wealth, and invest anywhere at any time via their smartphones.
These new features include artificial intelligence (AI)-driven smart triggers that alert users regarding key equity and foreign exchange (FX) price movements and offer stock suggestions based on their specific investments and preferences.
More than 90% of equity purchases, 40% of fund and FX purchases, and 90% of private bank clients have access to digital services today.
The DBS Digital Exchange, a full-service members-only digital exchange for trading and holding digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, was launched by the bank in December 2020 and went live the following month.
This initiative was part of the bank’s ongoing commitment to innovation. By the end of the year, DBS anticipates 1,000 users, and for the following three years, it projects annual growth of 20% to 30%.
With its Client Connect platform for smart-touch advisory and DBS digibank platform for self-directed online execution, the bank expects to use emerging technologies like AI and machine learning to “hyper-personalize” client engagement in the future.
As a result, DBS’ global private banking client assets increased by 264 billion Singapore dollars (roughly $195 billion) in 2020, up 7% year over year, while fee income in its wealth business increased by 11%.
6. BBVA
The BBVA Solidaridad fund, Spain’s first socially responsible investment vehicle, was launched in 1999, and the company is constantly looking for new ways to combine making money and doing good. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
The bank recently launched a socially conscious investment fund that donates a portion of its annual management fee to environmentally friendly initiatives.
Customers of BBVA’s private banking division now have access to its sustainability and impact investment options.
More than 84,000 people use BBVA’s private banks in Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Peru, Switzerland, Turkey, Colombia, Uruguay, and Venezuela, making this a sizable group of clients. Globally, the private banks are in charge of managing €96 billion ($109 billion).
BBVA has received numerous honors for ESG over the years, including this year’s Global Finance Award for Financial Leadership in Sustaining Communities. The largest senior green bond ever issued in the eurozone was by BBVA in 2018.
7. Bank of America
The history of Bank of America’s (BofA) philanthropy is extensive. For 160 years, the US bank has provided endowments and foundations with investment advice. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
Additionally, it has 200 devoted philanthropic specialists who offer a wide range of services, such as investment outsourcing, consulting and advisory, administrative services, and specialty asset management, many of whom have at least ten years’ experience.
The charitable organization has also been kind with its internal time and services, imparting its knowledge to banks that are clients of other BofA divisions.
Recently, the group collaborated with BofA’s Global Commercial Bank’s nonprofit, healthcare, and education groups.
The group added $4.7 billion in record-breaking new philanthropic AUM mandates in the first half of 2021, making a significant contribution to the $50 billion in AUM that the private bank currently oversees for endowments, foundations, and nonprofits.
The Philanthropic Solutions group has seen a 40% increase in sales and a 65% increase in AUM over the last five years.
8. Santander
The global private banking division of Banco Santander offers services to 217,600 clients in 11 nations.
It is a component of the Spanish bank’s Wealth Management and Insurance division, which has thrived ever since Victor Matarranz, the division’s global head, consolidated it four years ago. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
The division’s AUM were up 12% as of the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, and it contributed 16% more to group earnings overall.
Matarranz has been expanding the private bank division, which caters to ultrahigh-net-worth (UHNW) clients with assets exceeding €20 million, as well as globalizing the division’s offerings.
Currently, Santander has about 2,000 UHNW families worldwide, and on some of its offshore platforms, like those in the US, Switzerland, and the Bahamas, UHNW clients own half of the assets.
At the private bank, which strives to serve its UHNW client families before, during, and after generational wealth transfer occurs, intergenerational wealth has been a major area of focus.
According to Matarranz, the first time a member of a new generation attends a family office meeting is a crucial turning point in this process.
That person frequently raises concerns, which can be unsettling to a patriarch who has long handled the family’s wealth without opposition. Still, everyone involved may learn something from it.
The geographic breadth of the private bank, which enables it to offer clients the same service outside of their countries of origin and in all other markets, is one factor in its success.
For instance, the group’s well-known investment fund, Santander Future Wealth, was created by Santander Asset Management Luxembourg and later marketed in the other markets of the group, such as Chile, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.
9. BTG Pactual Wealth Management
BTG Pactual is one of Latin America’s most active business lenders in normal times, but 2020—racked by the Covid-19 pandemic—wasn’t your average year. Nonetheless, it is one of the best private banks in the world.
Lockdowns that were required, terrified clients, and constrained suppliers all hurt business.
For the benefit of numerous companies in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and other Latin American nations, BTG Pactual Wealth Management supported its clients by offering them first-rate data, counsel, and liquidity.
Since the bank had record cash flows and one of the highest Basel ratios in its peer group, it was able to maintain exceptionally high levels of liquidity throughout the year.
When businesses most needed credit, the institution’s strong financial position allowed it to expand its credit offerings. The lending portfolio of BTG Pactual increased by 68% over the course of the year and was mainly made up of loans to extremely profitable counterparties.
Wealth management AUM and custody reached 153.9 billion Brazilian reais (roughly $27.8 billion) at the end of 2020, a 33% year-over-year increase despite difficult circumstances thanks to the support of its wealthier clients.
The wealth division’s staff grew by 20% thanks to the addition of 30 new team members.
10. Citi Private Bank
About 13,000 clients, including 1,400 family offices and a quarter of the world’s billionaires, receive specialized financial services from Citi Private Bank (CPB), which employs about 500 private bankers and more than 700 investment specialists. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
Revenues for CPB increased by 6% from the same period in 2020 to $2.02 billion in the first half of 2021. The bank also saw a 30% increase in UHNW new client net worth, bringing the average to over $500 million.
Since the bank had record cash flows and one of the highest Basel ratios in its peer group, it was able to maintain exceptionally high levels of liquidity throughout the year.
When businesses most needed credit, the institution’s strong financial position allowed it to expand its credit offerings.
The lending portfolio of BTG Pactual increased by 68% over the course of the year and was mainly made up of loans to extremely profitable counterparties.
Wealth management AUM and custody reached 153.9 billion Brazilian reais (roughly $27.8 billion) at the end of 2020, a 33% year-over-year increase despite difficult circumstances thanks to the support of its wealthier clients.
The wealth division’s staff grew by 20% thanks to the addition of 30 new team members.
In order to set itself apart from other family offices and private banks, the private bank has a number of specialties, including art advisory, sports finance and advisory, and aircraft finance.
Despite the success of its private bank, Citi has recently taken a more relaxed approach to wealth management, focusing more on the mass-affluent customer segment and establishing a unified wealth management segment starting in January 2021.
It acknowledges the possibility that today’s mass-affluent consumers could develop into HNW or, in some cases, UHNW clients in the future.
11. Kotak Mahindra
Kotak Mahindra, one of India’s oldest private bankers, is said to oversee the wealth of 51 percent of the top 100 families in terms of wealth. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
The Mumbai-based bank has, however, also been vocal about the need to support India’s emerging business class. In order to achieve this, Kotak Wealth Management has created special programs for female and millennial entrepreneurs
For instance, the bank arranges meetings for these younger groups with successful businesspeople and professionals who share their insights and promote networking.
According to bank representatives, “Kotak Wealth believes that only when women begin to achieve their true economic potential will India achieve its full growth potential.”
The bank has released a number of reports on the subject to support its mission, one of which features India’s top 100 active female entrepreneurs.
These reports aim to “analyze and understand the evolution of key wealth creation trends among women,” as well as to showcase their achievements and overall contributions.
12. J. Safra Sarasin
Early in May, the Swiss-Brazilian private bank J Safra Sarasin announced that its agreement to purchase the Bank of Montreal’s private banking operations in Hong Kong and Singapore had been finalized (BMO). It is one of the best private banks in the world
As J Safra Sarasin sought to increase its presence in Asia, it was generally agreed that BMO’s diverse client base of UHNW clients would be a good fit.
AUM for the Basel-based bank group increased from 185.8 billion Swiss francs in 2019 to 192.4 billion Swiss francs (roughly $208 billion) at the end of 2020.
Switzerland accounted for the majority of that (100.1 billion francs), followed by Europe (excluding Switzerland, 54.5 billion francs) and Asia (18.1 billion francs). Certainly, that final element will develop.
The Asian business lines of BMO are probably not J Safra Sarasin’s final purchase. It has a well-established international growth strategy.
Since 2014, the bank has stated in nearly every annual report that it is “hungry for deals” and has outperformed all of its Swiss competitors with the exception of Julius Bär.
Andreas Pratz, a partner in PwC’s global strategy consulting business, is not surprised that the bank is focusing on the Singaporean market. Europe and North America are still important markets for private banking, but Singapore, in particular, has solidly cemented its position as a hub.
13. PNC Private Bank
Many believe that PNC Bank’s acquisition by PNC Financial of BBVA USA Bancshares will propel PNC Bank into a higher echelon of private banking companies, expanding its clientele and accelerating PNC’s family office services for the ultrawealthy.
With $560 billion in balance-sheet assets and a coast-to-coast national franchise, its acquisition in June elevated Pittsburgh’s PNC to the fifth-largest commercial bank in the US.
Additionally, it brought with it BBVA’s US wealth management division and the four-time champion private bank in the US Southwest region according to Global Finance. Additionally, PNC changed the names of BBVA USA and its wealth management division to PNC Private Bank.
BBVA USA’s recent acquisition of PNC “which allows us to have a coast-to-coast franchise, given their presence in the US Southwest and West,” according to Don Heberle, head of PNC Private Bank.
PNC has also been expanding its private banking reach by adding new clientele and personnel across the wealth spectrum, including “individuals who are just beginning their wealth accumulation journeys, such as corporate executives, doctors, lawyers and others, through to larger families and family offices.”
14. Scotia Wealth Management
With over 90,000 employees and $1.2 trillion in assets on its balance sheet, Scotiabank ranks third among banks in Canada. It is one of the best private banks in the world.
In 13 countries, including many in Latin America and the Caribbean, its Global Wealth Management division provides investment fund and advisory services to more than 1.5 million clients.
The private banking division of Scotia Wealth Management, as of the third quarter of this year, had $344 billion in AUM, an increase of 17% year over year, and $397 million in net income, a 20% increase year over year.
The division provides a wide range of services, such as private banking, estate and trust administration, investment management, as well as some more specialized ones like insurance planning. The bank’s Global Family Office Group caters to the UHNW market.
As “the only national financial services firm dedicated exclusively to the financial well-being of Canada’s physicians and their families,” according to the bank, Scotia also has an unusual but successful physician-focused wealth management division called MD Financial Management.
The bank acquired MD Financial Management in 2018. As of July 29, 2021, the specialized wealth manager had AUM of over $59 billion.
Scotia recently disclosed that it is looking to expand its wealth management business by making acquisitions in the US. Due to historically low interest rates, Canadian banks continue to struggle with slow loan growth and narrow profit margins.
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