PWM/The Banker’s second annual Global Private Banking Awards were presented at a gala ceremony on the shores of Lake Geneva on 28 October. The evening event, which followed the 5th annual Private Banking Summit, was attended by an internationally diversified panel of private banks, asset managers and product providers.

Transparency is a key element in the relationship between clients and wealth managers, however both sides have very different ideas as to what changes need to be made in the industry, writes Bill Yelverton.

Hervé Guinamant, CEO of Natixis Global Associates, explains how his firm strives to help clients select from a vast product offering. Elisa Trovato reports.

Younger people, who often tend to be less financially literate and may have been poorly advised in the past, are proving to be a successful pool of clients for wealth manager London & Capital. Yuri Bender reports.

Andrea Nannini, HSBC

While emerging markets have displayed strong recoveries and record inflows since the financial crisis, frontier markets have not enjoyed such a rally yet. Today these smaller economies represent attractive buying opportunities, especially for the long-term, although they also carry plenty of risk. Elisa Trovato reports.

The growing number of funds of hedge funds on Ucits platforms is in response to calls for greater transparency, liquidity and regulation, but their performance may disappoint some investors, writes Elisa Trovato.

Wealth managers are increasingly turning to passively managed portfolios as part of their offering to clients, with ETFs at the core. Ceri Jones reports.

Joe Bannister, MFSA

PWM invited seven leading figures in private banking and asset management to discuss the changing business models in the industry. Topics covered included the pitfalls of poorly conceived M&A activity, a lack of transparency surrounding fee levels and increasing levels of regulation. Yuri Bender directs the debate.

The strength of currencies has become a source of tension between some of the world’s biggest economies, especially the US and China, writes Elliot Smither. But how worried should private investors be?

Each month in PWM, 12 top European asset allocators reveal how they would spend €100,000 in a fund supermarket for a fairly conservative client with a balanced strategy.