Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) kept is position as the world’s largest private bank in 2009, fending off UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) based out of Switzerland, however, drops in profitability of the private banking industry and lower fresh funds from wealthy clients suggest that the wealth management industry is still in a weakened state.
The Charlotte-based bank received the top ranking in Scorpio Partnership’s annual ranking with about $1.74 trillion in total assets, beating out UBS which took second at$1.59 trillion. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) increased its ranking by four places last year after buying Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C)’s Smith Barney brokerage business, with a total of $1.51 trillion in assets.
The study said that the private banking business, which has traditionally been highly profitable, has been suffering from lower profitability than before the financial crisis as a result of lower new net money being available to manage.
“The wealth management engine is still misfiring for many. On the one hand, the asset management machine is working and this is shoring up numbers. While, for virtually all banks, in terms of attracting new business it has been a case of net no money,” Scorpio Managing Partner Seb Dovey said in the statement.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) received a fourth-place ranking and Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) received a fifth-place ranking.
