Private banking and wealth management are terms that overlap. However, did you know that the financial services offered through private banking and through wealth management slightly differs?

Wealth management is a broader category that involves dealing with the optimization of a client’s portfolio, taking into account his aversion to, or comfort with, risk, and investing financial assets according to his plans and goals. Wealth management can be practiced on a portfolio of any size (though, as the name implies, it’s geared toward the well-off: There must be some money to manage in the first place).

Private banking on the other hand, typically refers to an envelope solution for high-net-worth-individuals (HNWIs) wherein a public or private financial institution employs staff members to offer high-net-worth clients personalized care and management of their finances.

The Primary Difference

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The primary difference between private banking and wealth management is that private banking does not always deal with investing. Private bank staff may offer clients guidance on certain investment options, but not all banks will be involved in the actual process of investing assets for their clients. Most clients utilizing private banking services open deposit accounts of one kind or another.

Wealth management employees, including financial advisors, provide advice to clients to help them improve their financial standing and assist clients in investing assets with the goal of generating high returns. In general, private banking can extend to encompass wealth management, but wealth management firms cannot provide clients with private banking facility services.

Private Banking

In simple terms, private banking involves financial institutions that provide financial management services to HNWIs. Although some individuals may be able to obtain these services with assets less than $100,000, most private banks (or private bank divisions) set a benchmark of at least six figures.

Private banking provides investment-related advice and aims to address the entire financial circumstances of each client. Private banking services typically aid clients in protecting and maintaining their assets. Employees designated to aid each client work to provide individualized financing solutions. These employees also help clients plan and save for their retirement and structure plans for passing accumulated wealth on to family members or other indicated beneficiaries.

There are consumer banks of every size with private banking divisions. These divisions offer considerable perks to HNWIs to obtain them as clients. Private banking clients with large accounts generally receive enviable rates and concierge-like service, guaranteeing them instant access to the employees working with their accounts. Private banking clients never have to wait in line or use a teller for services. A private banking client can contact the lead advisor working with his account and complete just about any transaction, from cashing a check to moving large sums of money from one account to another.

These perks are all part of the banking institution’s plan to benefit financially. Banks pursue wealthy clients because their business generates significant sums of money in profit for the bank, guarantees repeat business and brings in new business. Private banking clients, specifically the ultra-wealthy, discuss the specialized and elite treatment they receive with other wealthy individuals which attracts new potential clients to them.

Clients utilizing private banking services pay for the specialized treatment they receive. The bank that wealthy clients use has a guarantee of a large pool of money, in the form of the clients’ substantial checking account balances, to lend and utilize. The bank also makes money from the steeper interest charges on larger mortgage and business loans taken out by rich clients. The real money maker for these banks, though, is the percentage earned on assets under management (AUM), which is generally quite large with HNWIs. Charging even a very small percentage fee for services that involve huge sums of money generates substantial income for the bank.

Specialized treatment by private banking divisions does come with some drawbacks, however. For instance, the turnover rate at banks tends to be high. A client may have built a relationship with an employee managing his account, and then the next month that employee is gone and replaced by someone the client likely doesn’t know. The client’s experience with the new employee may or may not be what he is looking for, and many private banking divisions lose clients over this.

These divisions may offer many services, but they may not be a master of all of them. Banks are not experts at everything, so the level of expertise the client receives is likely to be lower than if he had used a specialist in a particular area. Finally, private bankers are paid by the bank, so their primary loyalty is to their employer and not to their clients.

Wealth Management

Private wealth management generally involves advice and execution of investments on behalf of affluent clients. Firms that specialize in these practices are the primary sources for clients looking to invest in a variety of funds and stocks. Wealth management advisors also help with financial planning, manage client portfolios and perform a variety of other financial services in relation to a client’s private financing choices.

Private wealth management services are provided by larger financial institutions, such as Goldman Sachs, but they may also be provided by independent financial advisors or portfolio managers multi-licensed to offer multiple services.

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A wealth management advisor sits down one-on-one with each client and discusses goals, comfort levels with risk, and any other stipulations or restrictions the client may have regarding the investment of his assets. The wealth management advisor then create an investment strategy that incorporates all information gained from the client to help the client achieve his goals. The advisor continues to manage the client’s money and utilizes investment products that coincide with the client’s stipulations.

Wealth management advisors cannot always offer clients the same specialized and concierge-like services that private banking offers. However, in most cases, these financial advisors spend a great deal of time with clients. These advisors also cannot open banking accounts for clients, but they can assist them in determining the right kind of accounts to open at the bank of the client’s choosing.

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