For ultra-wealthy families, a family bank represents both a powerful conceptual framework and, in some cases, a formally structured approach to deploying capital. More than just a financial tool, family banking creates a foundation for fostering legacy that extends far beyond numbers on balance sheets. Here we explore this model, explain how it integrates with family office operations, and highlight key considerations that modern family office builders should understand when implementing this time-tested approach.
Private equity firms have emerged as significant players in the banking sector, marking a notable shift in the dynamic world of finance.
Three years after the end of World War II, the Deutsche Mark (DM) was introduced as the official currency in the Western Zones. Since 2001, the banknote has been in history. But even at the end of 2022, D-Mark coins and banknotes worth around 12.3 billion were still in circulation, according to the Bundesbank.
Nowadays, many firms are exploring various forms of AI for a range of uses. They look for greater back-office and middle-office efficiency and to secure better experiences and outcomes for clients. How do wealth managers cope with AI?
The digital euro is to be part of people's everyday lives in a few years, says Joachim Nagel, president of the German Bundesbank. The euro currency guards are already working intensively on a digital version of the common currency.
Private investors are becoming more important and are changing football in the background more strongly than many think. The role of super-rich owners, including oil-producing countries, is continuing to decline. Football is rapidly changing from an economic point of view after the Corona pandemic.
According to data provided by GlobalData, the top 25 global banks had a mixed performance in the third quarter of 2023. Their aggregate market capitalization dropped by 1.3%.
Climate change poses significant risks to the global economy, and the financial sector is not immune to its effects. Recognizing the need to address these risks the European Banking Authority (EBA) has announced several changes to ensure that banks fully reflect climate change risks in their capital buffers. In this article, we will explore the EBA's proposed measures and their implications for the banking industry.
The past 18 months have been the best period for global banking overall since at least 2007, as rising interest rates have boosted profits in a more comfortable credit environment.
As the use of physical cash declines and digital transactions become more prevalent, central banks around the world are exploring the idea of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). CBDCs are a form of digital currency issued and regulated by a country's central bank. The following article explores the intricacies of CBDCs, their potential benefits and concerns, and the countries that have already implemented them.
The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in banking is immense. Many different banking and financial companies keep themselves updated with recent trends. According to The Economist Impact, which regularly publishes analysis and research, 77% of bankers believe that the ability to unlock the value of AI will be the difference between the success or failure of banks.
Foreign currencies’ fluctuations significantly impact the financial planning and investment portfolios of HNWIs and UHNWIs. Positive effects include enhanced asset value, increased repatriated profits, greater international purchasing power, geographic diversification, and arbitrage possibilities. These allow for value preservation and profit maximisation from international investments.
Rising interest rates are cooling the appetite for mergers and acquisitions of European banks. While many predicted that higher borrowing costs would provide more funds and spur reshuffles among the sector's major players, lenders are actually staying away or even walking away from deals. The timing is proving unfavorable, as the true value of assets that would be devalued under current conditions is coming to light as they are purchased.
In Monaco, where nearly one in three residents is a millionaire, the stakes for securing your wealth couldn't be higher. Specifically, the Principality's private banking sector, known for its robust financial stability and tax-friendly regime, stands as an exclusive haven for Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals (UHNWIs) and High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs).
In the beginning, it was known as Schweizerische Kreditanstalt. Through successes and crises, Credit Suisse has helped write and shape Switzerland's modern financial history. It has survived for almost 167 years, from the 19th to the 21st century. The end of Credit Suisse goes hand in hand with an epochal break.
Bank insolvency is a pressing issue with global financial implications. When a bank fails, it disrupts the economy and affects individuals and businesses. In the past few years, well-known bank failures like Signature Bank, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers have shown what reasons and results such failures have. This piece looks at these cases and talks about what went wrong and what lessons can be learned from them.
If you look at the predictions from a few years ago about the size of the assets that the asset and wealth management (AWM) industry will manage today, you'll realize that some predictions simply aren't coming true.
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Family offices were built to endure, not to expand without limit. Their strength has always come from clarity: knowing how capital is structured, why decisions were made and who carries responsibility forward. For decades that clarity emerged naturally. Teams stayed small. Structures stayed understandable. Decisions remained close to memory. Today wealth is scaling faster than that inherited model can absorb, and complexity is accelerating beyond the reach of informal understanding. The real risk is not volatility. It is losing sight of the structure that holds everything together.
Most family offices believe they are preparing the next generation. The evidence suggests they are doing something considerably more modest: including heirs in governance without equipping them to participate in it. The distinction matters because presence and preparation are not the same thing, and the gap between them is where succession risk accumulates.
Family offices take measuring investment performance seriously. From benchmarks to fee tracking, the infrastructure for investment measurement is continuous, detailed, and increasingly automated. Apply that same question to governance — how effective is your board, your family council, your oversight function? — and the answer is different. The structures may exist, but the measurement often does not.
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The defining question in Swiss wealth management is not whether artificial intelligence will replace the advisor. The more important issue is whether the information environment is coherent enough for productivity gains to hold in practice. AI has attracted attention because it promises speed, efficiency and automation. The real test is whether information across banks, entities, asset classes and documents can be brought into a form that is visible, current and usable in day-to-day work.
