If you missed PWM’s private banking awards ceremony in Geneva, here are a few pictures of the winners to dwell on, as you begin to gather information for your entries for 2012. The dinner was attended by 150 bankers, with 35 awards celebrating excellence in private banking and asset management. Our researchers will begin to contact your banks from April onwards. For further details, please see our awards website www.privatebankingawards.com

Private banks could learn a thing or two from Mercedes Benz when it comes to targeting the next generation of clients

UBS Global Asset Management plans to identify core areas in which it can build up flagship funds, according to its new regional head of distribution, Rob Lay

ETFs are increasingly prevalent in client portfolios, but as the range of these products expands, private bankers are spending more and more time evaluating them

Western institutions are queuing up to invest in Russian equities, believing them undervalued, but local entrepreneurs are much more sceptical about the risks involved

It has been a turbulent 10 years for wealth management but looking back at what has transpired may provide pointers at how best to approach the challenges the industry faces

Today’s wealth businesses need transformers, not conformer

Time-honoured investment approaches have become obsolete. High net worth clients have lost in excess of $2,000bn worldwide since the onset of the credit crisis. Trust is the key casualty. The 2008 meltdown is the immediate cause.

Vicki Bakhshi, F&C

With a growing population and climate change putting pressure on natural resources, asset managers are having to factor ESG issues into their investment decisions

Nathan Bance, Barclays Capital

ETFs continue to go from strength to strength, with investors wary of high active management fees attracted by the flexibility and breadth of coverage of these passive products

It is hard to find a silver lining in the current climate, but for the exchange traded fund (ETF) industry at least, the economic backdrop has helped boost inflows because ETF charges are low and do not obliterate low investment returns, and their extreme liquidity is helpful during current market volatility.

Jason Orben, JP Morgan Worldwide Securities Services

Since the Lehman collapse, institutional investors have realised the importance of collateral management techniques to mitigate counterparty risk

Swiss boutique Reyl & Cie favours a disciplined approach whether building client portolios or eyeing up expansion opportunities in domestic and overseas markets

With ambitions to become the world’s largest pan-Asian asset manager, Nikko has acquired several regional players in preparation for its IPO