Credit Suisse is to launch a single family office service in India, in a move which it says is "an important milestone in the implementation of its growth strategy".

The new service has been designed to meet the specific needs of large family-owned enterprises, the bank said in a statement. More specifically, the aim is to help high and ultra high net worth clients achieve their goals for wealth, enterprise and legacy through the adoption of professional governance practices and the efficient coordination of family assets internationally.

“The Credit Suisse Single Family Office service allows families to leverage the strength of their enterprise, providing them with risk controls around the family fortune, coordinating between various service providers or acting as a facilitator between different family members, and assisting in setting up a family governance model by defining the guiding principles of the family,” the statement continued.

Credit Suisse notes that while India’s wealth managers have traditionally just provided investment and advisory services, the country’s burgeoning ranks of large business families has created a real need for an offering covering everything from asset allocation, estate planning and corporate finance to administrational management and philanthrophy.

Self-made wealth is the norm in India: 42 per cent of its billionaires are self-made, so it can often be difficult to draw the line between personal and business wealth; indeed, private banks in several other markets are increasingly offering corporate advisory services and the like as an important value-add. It should also be noted that India has seen some very high-profile disputes where families have squabbled over the ownership of family businesses in the second generation – cases where having proper family governance processes in place might have saved a lot of trouble.

In related news, early this week unconfirmed reports emerged that Morgan Stanley is conducting a strategic review of its Indian private banking business with a view to selling it. The bank is said to regard the business as “sub-scale.” India’s growing wealth has prompted many firms to try to tap this market, but it is also a highly competitive one where staff costs can be high.