Heads up, private bankers: you may be getting a lot of phone calls after Forbes.com published a scathing article yesterday headlined “Wealthy Clients Should Beware of Private Banks,” that is already among the web sites’ most popular.

“It's a little-known secret that many wealthy investors are profoundly dissatisfied with the private banks that oversee their assets,” author Edward Siedle asserts.  “They should be. Private banking is an investment backwater where appearances and reputations often far exceed capabilities.”

Among the articles more provocative allegations: “private banking is riddled with conflicts of interests involving the use of proprietary products and cross-sold services.”

The article comes at a time when the financial services sector, including wealth management, has suffered a loss of trust. A recent Societe Generale/Economist Intelligence Unit report said wealthy clients are unhappy with having products "pushed" at them by their banks.

Siedle's comments included segments such as: “If you opt to let a private bank handle your affairs, you can expect your separately managed accounts to be filled with proprietary products from the bank itself or from affiliated mutual funds, hedge funds and money market funds. This arrangement allows the bank to earn multiple layers of fees - often one for overseeing your overall portfolio and others for managing the sub-accounts. Such captive selling is highly entrenched.”

“Another reason to avoid private bank wealth managers,” the article continues, “is that neither the firms nor their employees are required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission as investment advisors or investment advisory representatives.”

“To date, a lack of transparency and powerful social networking have protected private banks from harsh review,” the Forbes article concludes. “That may change post-Madoff as more wealthy customers scrutinize the quality of the supposedly red-carpet services they receive from these tony institutions and the related investment results. Private banks make sense if you're willing to pay through the nose for the plush carpeting and fine china - but don't kid yourself into thinking private banks will provide you with world-class fiduciary guidance or superior investment results. Most won't.”

If it’s any consolation for private bankers, the first reader comment calls the story “moronic.”

The second calls the article disingenuous, noting that the author’s firm sues private banks.

Siedle is president of Benchmark Financial Services, which calls itself an “investment consulting firm” that provides “investigative services” and has “pioneered the emerging field of forensic investigation of the money management industry.”

Siedle previously was an attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission.