Independent Wealth Manager OR Private Bank Attached To A Global Investment Bank - Which Is Best?

6
Oct/090

Independent Wealth Manager OR Private Bank Attached To A Global Investment Bank - Which Is Best?

Are you better investing with a smaller independent firm, or one of the global organisations like UBS, Citigroup or J.P.Morgan?

Before the credit crunch, the big financial institutions lured investors with the strength of their investment banking arms. The idea being - if bankers were clever enough to make billions with the investment banking side, they could work the same magic with a private bank account.

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But the last couple of years have shown a change in policy after huge write-downs at investment banks, and some like Lehmann Brothers or Bear Sterns going down altogether. When big investment banks like UBS suffered in the sub-prime mortgage crisis their private banking arms took a reputation hit.

The big financial institutions argue that they offer a “one-stop-shop” if you will, and can offer a broader range of financial services which are difficult to replicate in a smaller organisation.The bank can attend to not only the client’s personal needs but also those of his company.

Most of all, big banks market their “in-house” experts and teams of reseachers who can help their private banking clients stay one step ahead.

Smaller private banks and trusts take an opposing view. What they offer is a more open system whereby clients pick and choose from a range of external invesment products. In many cases these very same independent private banks are clients of the large financial services companies.