Clients disillusioned by heavy losses have been switching from discretionary wealth management services to oversee their own money, and they may not quickly shift back if markets revive, a senior Royal Bank of Canada executive told a conference in London yesterday.

“Clients are now much more interested in what is actually going on,” Philip Harris, head of UK domestic wealth management at the Canadian bank, told The Future of Private Banking conference, organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs, the think tank.

“There is a lot more trading from people who don’t normally trade. I think that may eventually shift [back] when the sun comes out,” Harris continued.

The pattern is significant as discretionary wealth managers can typically charge more than for just advising an investor who takes the actual decisions, so any shift from discretionary models may squeeze profit margins, already under pressure as chronicled by reports by Scorpio Partnership, the consultants, and McKinsey.

As reported in June, a report by Market Dynamics Research & Consulting found that more clients want to take a hands-on approach to overseeing their wealth. Many investors do not want to transfer all day-to-day responsibility to discretionary wealth managers, suggesting disillusion among investors after the heavy market losses of 2008.

RBC's Harris said the reason for some move out of discretionary wealth management was down to a failure by managers to clearly communicate with clients about what had happened to their investments and about the process.

“The problem [for the industry] is that it has put people into investment programmes but has not fully explained what they are doing. If we get that right, then there will be a migration back,” said Harris.

He was speaking against a background of concern in the wealth management industry as to how it is to restore the trust that has been damaged by the heavy losses of 2008, when developed economies’ markets slumped by around 40 per cent. Data from Merrill Lynch/Capgemini shows there has been a partial recovery in wealth last year as markets revived, but confidence has yet to recover to pre-crisis levels.

On other topics, Harris said that some high net worth clients will continue to take advantage of tax differences between jurisdictions, although he noted that so far, only a relatively small number of HNW individuals have left the UK for countries such as Switzerland following recent UK tax increases.

One issue to consider for would-be emigrants is that of political risk, Harris said. “There is nothing like heavy armour and guys carrying side-arms to make you worry about what is happening to your money,” he added.