The global private banking sector is experiencing widespread growth after a number of years of uncertainty, but strong growth has given rise...

The global private banking sector is experiencing widespread growth after a number of years of uncertainty, but strong growth has given rise to greater competition and issues around client trust continue to preoccupy private bankers. “We have now entered into a growth phase in private banking,” Debra Treyz, the head of private banking in Europe for JP Morgan, told delegates at the Euromoney Private Wealth Management Forum in London yesterday. “Wealth managers are now on the offensive.” Ms Treyz said building client trust will need to be placed at the centre of private banking strategies if wealth managers are to win in an increasingly competitive market place. “Clients don’t trust us as they use to.” She said that private banks will have to look beyond the narrow confines of asset management and develop a more holistic approach to servicing clients. “This is a big challenge for the sector.” Jeremy Palmer, head of wealth management for UBS in the UK, northern and eastern Europe, predicted consolidation in the sector. “With the largest player only controlling 2 per cent of the wealth management market, clearly there are opportunities for banks like ourselves to gain a bigger part of this business.” Mr Palmer added that wealth management is now being taken much more seriously by financial firms than they did 10 years ago. “It used to be that investment bankers were all very smart and private bankers were all very nice—this has now changed.” Efforts to recruit the right staff are being hampered by a lack of talent, said many of the speakers at the first day of the conference. “Not too many people around are able to deal with the sophisticated demands of today’s clients,” said Mr Palmer. UBS has recruited more than 700 client advisors across Europe since the start of its onshore offensive, Mr Palmer added. Jos Ter-Avest, global head of private banking at ABN Amro told the conference that his bank did not plan to re-brand its private banking business throughout Europe, despite a large number of private banking names. “This is not envisaged—not yet.”