The last 20 years of private banking have been all about building scale, international growth and professionalization; the top wealth managers are still getting bigger and are confident they have the right model – but as they struggle to maintain quality of service under pressure on revenues, new specialists are emerging.

More than 2,000 private bankers took part in the 2019 Euromoney private banking survey.

In a supposedly slow-moving industry, the amount of change in global wealth management over five decades has been remarkable.

Wealth management was built by men for men.

Euromoney’s coverage of private banking since our launch in 1969 reflects the changes in the industry itself.

For many private banks that set up in Asia in the last decade, the cost of doing business kept them locked out of the vast expansion of wealth in the region; those that didn’t leave are settling into a more mature industry, but they are a long way from being able to relax.

If there was ever a risk of client advisers being replaced by robots, that danger has now passed.

Digital innovation has the potential to transform international trade, yet many argue that banks are lagging in replacing antiquated systems for trade with smart solutions.