Private banking survey 2006:
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Global banks seduce southern sophisticates
Fairly or unfairly, Germans enjoy a reputation for chauvinism. It certainly appears that when they choose their private wealth managers, German clients instinctively opt for a well-known local name. And local doesn’t always stretch to mean German.
“We have a Hamburg market, a Cologne-Düsseldorf market, a Frankfurt market and a Munich market,” says Klaus Kirchmayr, a partner at Zurich-based consultancy Millenium Associates. “If you are in Cologne, it’s prestigious to be a client of Sal Oppenheim. If you are in Hamburg, you have an affinity with MM Warburg or Berenberg Bank.”
But away from the biggest urban centres, wealthy Germans have gravitated towards the best-known national players. This has concentrated wealth management in comparatively few hands.
“Germany is very different to other...
