Wealth
A 38 per cent surge in wealth solutions income has propelled Standard Chartered to a record pre-tax profit of $4.8 billion for the first half of 2026. The performance, bolstered by record affluent net new money, exceeded analyst expectations and prompted the bank to announce a new $1 billion share buyback program.
Wealth
A 39 percent jump in net flows failed to budge the bottom line for Deutsche Bank’s private banking division in the second quarter of 2026. While the arm captured €9 billion in new client money, pre-tax profit stalled at €605 million, matching the performance recorded during the same period last year.
Wealth
With private wealth entities in the Dubai International Financial Centre surging by 61 percent annually, Swiss lender Julius Baer has formalized a strategic agreement with the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism to act as a bridge for international family offices and business owners relocating to the emirate.
Wealth
Private investment giant Ardian is restructuring its top-level management, appointing François Jerphagnon and Marion Calcine as executive vice-presidents. The transition, effective September 30, marks a significant shift for the Paris-based firm as it balances long-term succession planning with the continued expansion of its core infrastructure platform.
Wealth
Alternative asset manager Trimontium has tapped legal veteran Graham Morrison as general counsel, while Citi Investment Management has recruited Rob Lunn to head its portfolio solutions unit in the EMEA region, signaling a strategic focus on cross-border growth and expanded institutional reach for both firms.
Wealth
UBS posted a robust second quarter in 2026, with group net profit rising to $2.8 billion, comfortably outpacing analyst expectations. The Swiss banking giant’s wealth management division served as the primary engine for this growth, reporting a 13 percent year-on-year revenue increase alongside significant gains in invested assets.
Wealth
New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s one-year moratorium on major data centre construction has ignited a global debate over the sustainability of the AI boom. As local pushback against resource-heavy facilities intensifies, investors are grappling with whether regulatory hurdles will stifle growth or merely shift the competitive landscape for power and water.
Wealth
Independent asset manager J Stern & Co will absorb Geneva-based bvo capital to consolidate its Swiss operations, a move that pushes the firm’s total managed assets past the $2.8 billion mark. The deal reflects a broader trend of industry consolidation across Europe as firms seek greater scale and shared research capabilities.
Wealth
Barclays’ private banking and wealth management division saw attributable profit slide 20 percent to £148 million for the first half of 2026. While total income grew to £713 million, a sharp 11 percent rise in operating expenses to £524 million squeezed margins and widened the division’s cost-to-income ratio.
Wealth
Henry MacLeod has been named managing director and head of Direct Retail and Digital Wealth International at State Street Investment Management. Tasked with accelerating the firm's international retail strategy, he joins from BlackRock, where he previously spearheaded digital distribution efforts across the EMEA region for years.
Wealth
European wealthtech provider Objectway has entered exclusive negotiations to purchase the stakes held by BNP Paribas and Natixis in SLIB. This strategic bid for the Paris-based capital markets software firm marks the company's second major acquisition in less than a month, signaling an aggressive expansion of its European footprint.
Wealth
Independent asset manager J Stern & Co is consolidating its Swiss operations by merging with Geneva-based bvo capital, a move set to push the firm’s total assets under management beyond the $2.8 billion mark. The deal reflects a broader trend of industry integration across European wealth management markets.
Wealth
Shin Sawada has been appointed managing director of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust International Limited, the London arm of the Japanese investment giant. He steps into the role previously held by Hiroki Moritani, who returned to Tokyo this July to oversee global business development for the firm's headquarters.
Wealth
Wealth management firms are reshuffling senior leadership across Europe as demand for specialized investment and legal services intensifies. From Paris to London, major players including Natixis Investment Managers, Womble Bond Dickinson, Downing, and T. Rowe Price have announced key appointments to bolster their ETF, private capital, and estate planning divisions.
Wealth
Goldman Sachs is aggressively diversifying its asset management portfolio by consolidating its alternative investment capabilities into a singular, expanded division. This move signals a deliberate shift toward private markets, positioning the firm to capture deeper fee-based revenue streams as traditional public equity and debt markets face increased volatility.
Wealth
After a decade navigating the constraints of family offices, Lucas Bitencourt is scaling his London-based firm, Arbra Partners, into the Gulf. He plans to open a UAE office by year-end, betting on long-term regional demand while simultaneously launching a £110 million luxury eco-tourism development in Portugal.
Wealth
With £33 billion in commercial loans maturing in 2026, London-based Robert Irving Burns has launched a private finance arm to assist clients navigating a landscape of elevated interest rates and tighter lending criteria. The new division aims to bridge the widening equity gap for investors and developers facing asset repricing.
Wealth
London-based Fasanara Capital has tapped former Man Group strategist James Hylands to spearhead its new AI Lab, while wealth manager TEAM has appointed industry veteran John Cusins to its board of directors, signaling a push for both technological integration and expanded corporate growth across the financial sector.
Wealth
UOB Private Bank plans to quintuple its assets under management and wealth revenue in Hong Kong by 2030. To support this aggressive expansion, the Singapore-based lender intends to triple its local client advisor headcount, leveraging a strategic corridor connecting mainland China, Hong Kong, and the broader ASEAN region.
Wealth
Concierge services for the ultra-wealthy are evolving from simple lifestyle assistance into a critical, strategic pillar of family office management. As global complexity grows, wealth managers are increasingly integrating curated, high-stakes coordination—ranging from medical access to aviation—directly into their core fiduciary offerings to deepen long-term client relationships.
Wealth
Conflict arises when the convenience of automated meeting transcripts clashes with the rigid requirements of attorney-client privilege. While AI notetakers streamline record-keeping for modern professionals, legal experts warn that uploading sensitive discussions to cloud-based tools can effectively waive confidentiality, exposing private communications to discovery in court.
Wealth
A wave of senior appointments across the wealth management sector signals a push for specialized expertise, ranging from global equity strategy to complex tax planning and enterprise risk management, as firms seek to bolster their competitive positioning in the UK and international markets.
Wealth
A sharp rise in revenue coupled with a streamlined cost base propelled Vontobel to a net profit of SFr216 million for the first half of 2026, marking an 87 per cent surge compared to the same period last year as the Swiss private bank continues to outpace its own efficiency targets.
Wealth
Institutional investors are gaining a new avenue to integrate sustainability into their portfolios through a partnership between New York-based BlackRock and Amsterdam’s Phenix Capital Group. The collaboration merges BlackRock’s risk-management infrastructure with Phenix’s database of over 3,000 global impact fund managers to meet rising demand for measurable outcomes.
Wealth
Eighty-four trade transactions and 33 financial deals defined the first half of 2026 for the UK defence sector, marking a record start to the year. Heligan Group reports that private equity firms are now aggressively outbidding traditional trade buyers, driving up valuations across the national security and autonomous systems industries.
Wealth
Geopolitical friction in the Strait of Hormuz is transforming renewable energy and precision farming from long-term sustainability goals into urgent risk-management imperatives. Union Bancaire Privée’s 2025 Impact Report suggests that supply chain volatility is accelerating the transition toward electrification and resource-efficient agriculture across emerging markets.
Wealth
With 225 transactions involving US-registered investment advisors during the first half of 2026, the wealth management sector is tracking toward a record year. This 40 percent jump in deal volume highlights a wider trend of aggressive consolidation, as US capital flows into the fragmented UK and Australian advice markets.
Wealth
London-based Fasanara Capital has secured a $75 million Shariah-compliant facility to bolster embedded finance for Saudi SMEs, while William Blair Investment Management has launched its Global Leaders Select strategy, a concentrated, benchmark-agnostic portfolio seeded with $225 million to target long-term growth for global investors.
Wealth
A 33.4 percent jump in second-quarter 2026 net income brought BNP Paribas to €4.345 billion, as the Paris-based lender benefited from heightened transactional activity and the integration of AXA Investment Managers. Shares in the group have climbed 34.4 percent since the start of the year, reflecting strong investor confidence.
Wealth
Swedish private markets firm EQT has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with the UK’s Emirates GBR team, securing branding on their F50 catamarans through 2030. This move signals a broader shift in the investment sector, as firms increasingly leverage elite sport to court individual investors beyond institutional circles.
