A new survey among Britain’s wealthiest investors reveals they are turning to top tier private banks for investment advice in increasing numbers. In the last two years the numbers of high net worth individuals seeking advice from their private banks has increased by 50 per cent. Tulip Financial Research's poll of individuals with liquid assets above £2 million shows that 52 per cent use private banks. John Clemens, Tulip’s managing director, says that traditionally these customers have used private banks for basic current account services. He told WealthBriefing: “The change has come in how they use their private banks. In the last two years, there has been a 50 per cent rise in those customers using their private banks for investment advice. What our research shows is that high net worth individuals are taking greater interest in investment issues and they are turning to their private banks for that advice. “There is a slight increase in new customers but the lion’s share of the new business has come from existing clients. Around 80,000 customers have moved from basic accounts to investment advice.” The big winners are the private banking arms of the high street banks. Lloyds TSB, Barclays and HSBC recorded major increases in business. But the largest gains went to the RBS Group which includes the private banking activities of the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest as well as Coutts. Mr Clemens says that there was a 92 per cent increase in UK customers who believe that the quality of investment advice is up to date. “The banks have been marketing their private client services heavily. So, high net worth individuals turn to trusted bankers.” He says that some high net worth individuals are now holding informal beauty parades of three or four advisors and he believes that this will be an increasing trend.