This report benchmarks the world's leading wealth managers by managed client assets and financial performance. It covers the 49 most prominent institutions, including standalone private banks and wealth managers, as well as competitors that are part of larger universal financial groups. All international public wealth managers with over $100 billion in private client AUM are featured in the report.
After 2021 saw double-digit growth in client assets and record profits, the private wealth management industry looks set for its toughest year since the global financial crisis. A combination of expansionary monetary policy and pandemic support created fertile market conditions for private wealth managers in 2021, but 2022 is set to be the polar opposite - saddling competitors with significant challenges and headwinds.
After 2021 saw double-digit growth in client assets and record profits, the private wealth management industry looks set for its toughest year since the global financial crisis. A combination of expansionary monetary policy and pandemic support created fertile market conditions for private wealth managers in 2021, but 2022 is set to be the polar opposite - saddling competitors with significant challenges and headwinds.
Scope
- Inflows to the largest wealth managers outpaced growth in overall HNW wealth in 2021.
- Digitalization of private wealth management is continuing to reduce headcount at leading banks, even as assets under management and clients reach all-time highs.
- COVID-19 has already faded from the strategies of the top wealth managers, with geopolitics and environmental, social, and governance rising as concerns.
Reasons to Buy
- Benchmark the AUM and financial performance of the largest private wealth managers in the industry.
- Understand the challenges facing wealth managers and how the top banks are addressing them.
- Learn about the strategies driving growth at leading wealth management groups.
- Analyze wealth profitability trends and discover the strategies that leading banks are using to improve performance.
- Identify the industry's best practices in managing operating costs and boosting revenues.
- Gain insight into the major issues preoccupying wealth managers.
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary1.1 2022 is shaping up to be the year the tide went out
1.2 Key findings
1.3 Critical success factors
2. Wealth Managers by AUM
2.1 The top wealth managers recorded strong growth in 2021
2.2 Continued positive net new money boosted the top banks amid crises
2.3 The top end of the private wealth market saw key shifts
2.4 2022 half-year figures suggest the industry is struggling
3. Financial Performance
3.1 Profits at wealth management divisions recovered in 2021
3.2 Group performance bounced back to all-time highs in 2021
4. Competitive Trends
4.1 Publisher's Company Filings Analytics: top trends
4.2 High inflation returns, with big impacts on wealth and asset management
4.3 Private client digital lending solutions will pay off for wealth managers
4.4 The Russia/Ukraine conflict refocuses attention on compliance
5. Appendix
5.1 Abbreviations and acronyms
5.2 Supplementary data
5.3 Secondary sources
5.4 Further reading
- About the Publisher
- Contact the Publisher
Table 1: Private banks with significant net inflows growth in 2021
Table 2: Published client AUM for the top 15 private wealth managers ($ billion), 2021-H1 2022
Table 3: Private wealth management minimum thresholds
Table 4: Net new money from reporting wealth management competitors ($ billion), 2016-21
List of Figures
Figure 1: Consolidation has been slowly reversing itself due to high HNW asset growth
Figure 2: Competitive pressure is building in the private wealth management market as economic storm clouds gather
Figure 3: Inflows surged in 2021 as the rich world rolled out COVID vaccines and opened up again
Figure 4: Raymond James led the pack in 2021 due to capital appreciation and net inflows
Figure 5: Wealth management profitability bounced back in 2021, aided by a recovery in the cost/revenue ratio
Figure 6: Growth in profit was widespread across regions and types of private wealth manager
Figure 7: Both costs and revenue surged in 2021 thanks to a reinvigorated industry
Figure 8: Wealth revenue growth was driven by fees generated from larger portfolios
Figure 9: Wealth FTEs have continued to fall across the top wealth management firms
Figure 10: The top wealth management banking groups have turned the corner on the pandemic
Figure 11: Only Credit Suisse and Quintet truly suffered a reversal in group profits in 2021
Figure 12: Several turnaround stories at troubled majors led the pack in group profit growth
Figure 13: Wealth management has not grown appreciably as a share of overall banking
Figure 14: The top wealth managers remain focused on ESG
Figure 15: ESG investment demand has shifted to the Middle East and Africa
Figure 16: Financial market decline is expected to materially affect industry performance in 2022
Figure 17: Demand for credit is highest in North America, where rates have already risen
Figure 18: Wealth managers will need to look beyond the West to find more HNW wealth to manage
Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- ABN AMRO
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch
- Barclays
- BNP Paribas
- BNY Mellon
- Bank of China
- Bank of Montreal
- Charles Schwab
- China Merchants Bank
- Citigroup
- Citi Private Bank
- Crédit Agricole
- Credit Suisse
- Deutsche Bank
- DBS
- EFG International
- Goldman Sachs
- HSBC
- HSBC Private Bank
- J.P. Morgan
- Julius Baer
- Morgan Stanley
- Northern Trust
- Pictet
- Royal Bank of Canada
- Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest
- Santander
- Société Générale
- Standard Chartered
- UBS
- U.S. Trust
- Vontobel
- Wells Fargo
- OCBC
- Bank of Singapore
- DBS
- UBP
- Raymond James
- St. James’s Place
- Investec
- Bank Cantonale Vaudoise
- Rothschild & Co
- Nordea
