Strategy
The Buzz Grows Around Wealth Managment in the US
The battle for control of the accelerating wealth of Americans is intensifying, according to speakers at a Reuters Finance Summit in New Yor...
The battle for control of the accelerating wealth of Americans is intensifying, according to speakers at a Reuters Finance Summit in New York this week. Participants were told that there was an increasing focus and more resources directed toward investing in wealth management, an area which has seen a turnaround during the year after a extended period of flat performance. According to Reuters the market is also changing, with more high net worth individuals wanting their assets managed onshore rather than offshore. The summit heard that assets of wealthy individuals in North America will increase by 8.4 per cent to $13.9 trillion in the next four years, while wealth in Asia will grew 6.9 per cent and European wealth is seen growing 3.8 per cent to $10.7 trillion in the period. "It's a large and growing market and still very fragmented. Many players are working on models to gain more market share," Chief Executive William Harrison of JPMorgan Chase told the summit and quoted on Reuters. UBS said it took on a staggering $26 billion in new assets in wealth management in the third-quarter, but still has less than 5 per cent of the world market. "It is a hugely important business for us," UBS Investment Bank Chief Executive Huw Jenkins told the summit. He added that UBS wants to build its base of wealthy clients in the US. Merrill Lynch analyst Guy Moszkowski told the summit "Private client businesses can be very profitable". He went on to say that in recent years many traditional brokers and online brokers like E*Trade and Charles Schwab have been moving to capture the benefit of that funding source, but they need to find a niche and be able to make it cost-effective. "But with the use of technology, the Internet and marketing techniques, they can do that. The need is there from the private client as long as they can be serviced in a way that is required," Mr Moszkowski was quoted by Reuters.
