Greater competition leads to more customization.
Amid an improving monetary landscape and enhanced investment banking opportunities, many of Western Europe’s leading private banks are seeing a strong recovery in assets under management and profitability growth. However, despite these positive trends, the region faces significant geopolitical and long-term economic risks that make achieving industry excellence more complex.
As clients continue to accumulate greater wealth, their demand for highly specialized services increases. This often leads them to engage several private banks to achieve their evolving goals.
In response to the growing challenge of customer retention, banks are increasingly investing in expanding their technology capabilities, making this a key strategy for industry growth. At the same time, major banks in the region are pursuing inorganic growth strategies to strengthen their market position by acquiring smaller, highly regarded local institutions.
This year’s winners have distinguished themselves, consistently providing the best wealth management services to their clients by not only anticipating these trends but also excelling at dealing with them.
Best Private Bank: UBS
Since UBS completed its acquisition of Credit Suisse in mid-2023, UBS Private Wealth Management is now the world’s largest private bank, with a staggering $2.6 trillion in invested assets.
According to KPMG Switzerland research, the impressive figures make the giant larger than all other Swiss banks combined in terms of assets invested in the wealth management sector alone.
However, while the bank’s undisputed leadership in Western Europe is clear, UBS’s influence goes further. The company’s depth in products, offerings and market positioning gives it a significant advantage over its diverse competitors.
One of its latest developments, leveraging the power of artificial intelligence for its clients, was the launch of a tool that can quickly identify potential M&A deals by analyzing a database of more than 300,000 companies in less than 30 seconds.
Best Private Bank for Sustainable Investment: LGT
LGT made significant strides last year towards achieving its ambitious goal of increasing client allocations in sustainable investments to 80% by 2030, as part of its pioneering 2030 Sustainability Strategy.
The private bank recently launched flagship funds for the first time, such as the LGT PB Sustainable Transition Enabling Fund, which focuses on investments that facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Furthermore, the launch of GIM NextGen, a new share class that jointly invests with the Princely Family of Liechtenstein, has expanded sustainable investment opportunities for the bank’s clients.
The bank’s active stewardship strategy includes enhancing engagement with companies on sustainability issues, and ensuring companies align with environmental goals. LGT has also joined important initiatives such as the UN-backed Cooperative Principles for Responsible Investment in Human Rights, strengthening the Bank’s influence on sustainable practices.
LGT also hosted the inaugural LGT Climate Conference in Vienna, which brought together more than 330 clients and leaders from across sectors to address climate science and investment.
Best private banking digital solutions for clients: Santander Private Banking
Santander Private Banking’s quest to deliver a more globally integrated and better offering is at the forefront of a very sharp focus on improving its already best-in-class digital offering.
The Spanish company recently updated its flagship banking app, enabling relationship managers in Miami and Switzerland to access customer accounts on mobile devices for efficient management on the go.
In mid-2023, the bank also rolled out secure digital custody of cryptographic keys, providing high-net-worth clients with the security of hard digital assets.
Furthermore, the bank has used digital tools for environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting, launching reports with environmental and social metrics leveraging advanced data analytics in six key markets.
It plans to expand these services across all European markets by 2025, further deepening the bank’s ethical investment offerings.
