Universal banks
Private banking sits inside a large banking group, alongside retail banking, corporate banking, investment banking, or all three. The group’s core business may be any of those, and private banking is sometimes central to the group and sometimes secondary to it. The structure produces global reach and large platforms, one institution for corporate finance, lending and private banking together, strong access to proprietary deal flow such as private equity, structured products and in-house funds, and generally strong online banking. Scale also produces standardisation: portfolios tend to be assembled from a defined house range, and the private bank is one distribution channel for products the group manufactures.Listed and pure-play private banks
Wealth management is the main business rather than one division of a wider group, although some firms also run an asset-management arm. Many are listed on a stock exchange, so they answer to external shareholders and report on a quarterly cycle. The structure produces deep wealth-management expertise and a single business to focus on. Where an asset-management arm exists, the same firm both manufactures and distributes investment products. Geographic reach varies from firm to firm.Boutique private banks
Bordier’s own name for this category. Owned by families or by partners rather than by outside shareholders. In a small number of Swiss houses, the managing partners carry unlimited personal liability for the bank’s commitments, which puts their own assets behind the institution. Firms of this kind sit between family offices and the pure-play private banks. They treat private banking as their only business, work mainly with families and family offices, and build portfolios individually with a partner or senior banker involved. Decisions are taken close to the client. The trade-offs are scale, brand visibility and the breadth of the product shelf. Bordier belongs to this category. See What kind of bank Bordier is.Independent asset managers
Not banks. An independent asset manager, sometimes called an external asset manager, advises clients and manages their portfolios, and depends on a bank for custody, trading infrastructure and products. Clients choose one primarily for the personal relationship and for the independence of the advice, and the model emphasises transparency, ethics and long-term alignment. The cost of compliance, among other pressures, makes size increasingly important here, and the sector is consolidating as firms reach critical size.The four models in one view
Related
- What kind of bank Bordier is, where Bordier sits among these models.
- The Swiss private-banker model, the legal form behind unlimited partner liability.
- Working with independent asset managers, how Bordier serves managers in the fourth category.
- Glossary, definitions of the terms used here.
General information only. Not investment advice, not a solicitation and not an offer. Eligibility, services and terms differ by jurisdiction and by client. Speak to your banker about your own circumstances.