U.S. Set to Snatch Wealth Crown?

Wall Street banks long ago won the race as investment banking champions against their European counterparts. Now, American banks are set to snatch Switzerland's wealth management crown too.

For the CEO of Switzerland's largest bank, they represent a «Goliath» (behind paywall, in German): UBS boss Sergio Ermotti recently used the biblical comparison to illustrate the fight between American banks and their European counterparts. 

The Swiss banker isn't being dramatic: right after Chinese banks, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup rank as the largest banks in the world. Their heft is most impressive in investment banking, where Wall Street's banks long ago pulled ahead as European counterparts like Deutsche Bank and UBS retreat.

The five largest U.S. banks traded a cumulative $1.5 trillion in volume last year, and  Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Bank of America lead current mergers-and-acquisition league tables by some distance.

U.S. Runaway Winner

But that's not enough for the Wall Street heavyweights. After reinforcing following the financial crisis, American banks are now attacking what Switzerland considers its strong suit: wealth management as a growth market.

American banks were runaway winners at the recently-held«Global Private Banking Awards», an annual industry event held chiefly for banks to celebrate themselves.  Specifically, Citigroup snatched the crown as best global private bank from Switzerland's UBS, while J.P. Morgan, the largest bank in the U.S., won the prestigious prize for banking with the ultra-rich of the U.S. and Latin America.

Americans Storm Ranks

The niche family office category also went to a U.S. firm: Chicago-based Northern Trust. The data backing up the glittering tombstones tell the bigger story. UBS still tops a frequently-cited annual league table of the world's largest wealth managers compiled by London-based consulting firm Scorpio Partnership(see graph below).

Right behind the Swiss giant? U.S. rivals Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

Double-Digit Growth