Best private bank: BTG Pactual
Brazil’s private banking market has been reshaped by rapid consolidation and rising client demand for global diversification. BTG Pactual has emerged as a central force in this shift, expanding its platform through landmark acquisitions and a clearer strategic focus on scale and international reach.
The bank absorbed Julius Baer’s Brazilian wealth unit, adding roughly R$60 billion in advised assets, and later acquired JGP’s wealth management arm, bringing another R$18 billion and pushing its combined multi-family‑office platform above R$100 billion while its broader wealth division surpassed R$1 trillion in assets.
Its cross‑border capabilities strengthened further as BTG entered new markets, including the purchase of HSBC’s Uruguay operations, which expanded its regional footprint and provided a springboard for broader Latin American ambitions. These moves build on a strategy that positions BTG as a consolidator in a fragmented wealth landscape, offering clients deeper advisory resources and wider geographic coverage.
Sustainability has become another pillar of differentiation. BTG’s strategic partnership with the International Finance Corporation aims to mobilise up to US$1 billion for environmental and development projects across Latin America, reinforcing its role in climate‑aligned capital allocation and signalling long‑term commitment to responsible growth.
Best international private bank: Santander
Santander’s private banking franchise distinguishes itself through the breadth of its global platform and its ability to translate that scale into relevant cross‑border solutions for Brazilian wealth.
Here, Euromoney acknowledges the strength of its international service model and its leadership in serving Latin American clients with multi‑jurisdictional needs. This reach is underpinned by hubs across Europe, the US and Latin America, supported by specialist bankers who can deliver consistent advisory and booking flexibility across markets.
The bank’s recent transformation has sharpened its international value proposition. Reporting shows that Santander has remodelled its family‑office and private‑banking platforms to operate as a unified global structure, giving Brazilian clients access to the same products, discretionary mandates and real‑estate advisory available in the US and Europe.
This includes a broadened toolkit spanning structured products booked in the Cayman Islands, margin‑lending solutions via Madrid and cross‑border wealth‑planning frameworks designed for international mobility.
Santander’s investment in senior talent reinforces this global ambition. The bank has expanded leadership and advisory capabilities across its ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) and international desks, ensuring client coverage with teams experienced in multi‑booking centre advisory and global portfolio construction.
Best for UHNW: UBS
Brazil’s ultra‑high‑net‑worth (UHNW) individuals value global reach paired with on‑the‑ground execution. UBS brings both: a long, local history augmented by the integration of Credit Suisse’s Brazilian wealth franchise and a unified Global Wealth Management structure that deepens UHNW coverage in São Paulo and beyond. Its regional platform is reinforced by signature client convenings such as the Latin America Investment Conference, which connects Brazilian families to global deal flow, research and capital markets access.
Latin America’s UHNW individuals have faced currency and market headwinds, prompting greater international diversification and increased use of overseas booking centres. UBS’s multi‑booking centre architecture – spanning the US, Switzerland and the Bahamas – remains the most globally comprehensive available to Brazilian families. Its footprint across 11 countries and more than 1,400 dedicated UHNW professionals enables consistent structuring, risk management and liquidity planning across jurisdictions.
UBS’s ability to combine Swiss balance‑sheet strength, investment banking connectivity and a locally scaled adviser bench positions it uniquely well for Brazilian UHNW families managing complex liquidity events, cross‑border holdings and governance. It is the rare franchise able to deliver institutional‑grade solutions with boutique‑style proximity, making it the strongest UHNW proposition in Brazil this cycle.
Best for HNW: Itaú Private Bank
Itaú Private Bank’s long‑established position in Brazil’s wealth market provides a strong foundation for serving the country’s expanding pool of high‑net‑worth (HNW) clients. Its recent strategic reorientation – delivered through the multi‑year Private of the Future programme – has sharpened the bank’s focus on segment differentiation, service consistency and the integration of onshore and offshore capabilities. For HNW clients, this has translated into more structured coverage, clearer service models and a demonstrable uplift in engagement quality across regional offices.
The bank has introduced dedicated HNW propositions that sit between mass affluent and UHNW coverage, offering tailored advisory, curated investment solutions and structured credit options designed for individuals with growing complexity in their balance sheets.
Its access to global asset managers, broader alternatives curation and strengthened leverage solutions have made Itaú a credible option for HNW clients seeking diversification and institutional‑grade structuring without moving up to UHNW thresholds.
Talent has been another differentiator. The expansion of senior advisory staff and investment specialists, supported by integrated training programmes, enables Itaú to deliver more consistent planning, portfolio guidance and lending expertise for HNW families transitioning into multi‑jurisdictional or multi‑asset‑class needs.
Coupled with upgraded digital tools that provide consolidated reporting and improved day‑to‑day usability, Itaú offers a comprehensive and scalable HNW proposition that stands out in Brazil’s universal‑banking landscape.
Best for family office services: BTG Pactual
BTG Pactual has built a differentiated family‑office proposition centred on governance, long‑term structuring and bespoke support for Brazil’s largest entrepreneurial families. As wealth becomes more multi‑generational and internationally distributed, families increasingly require advisory frameworks that integrate investment policy oversight with legal, tax and succession architecture. BTG has responded by developing a platform capable of coordinating these elements through a single, institutionally governed interface.
The bank’s multi‑family‑office offering provides tailored solutions across trust design, estate planning and cross‑border structuring, allowing clients to organise complex asset bases that span jurisdictions and family branches. This is complemented by dedicated advisory teams that blend legal, investment and planning expertise, ensuring continuity and strategic alignment for families managing intergenerational transitions or reshaping governance frameworks.
BTG’s reporting and oversight capabilities further distinguish its approach. Consolidated, multi‑bank dashboards and enhanced risk‑monitoring tools give families clearer visibility into liquidity, exposures and long‑term allocation decisions.
While the bank’s broader wealth‑platform scale enhances its investment reach, the family‑office franchise remains defined by personalised governance and structural advisory rather than product breadth. This positioning makes BTG Pactual a leading partner for families seeking disciplined, long‑horizon solutions anchored in professional governance.
Best for succession planning: Bradesco Global Private Banking
Succession planning has become a central priority for Brazilian ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families as wealth structures grow more complex and intergenerational transitions accelerate. Bradesco Global Private Bank has strengthened its positioning by embedding governance, education and cross‑border technical expertise into a unified advisory model.
The franchise’s assets under management (AUM) expanded in 2024, supported by a platform that integrates wealth planning, philanthropy and family governance to preserve identity and continuity across generations.
Its Family Day and Governance Workshop programmes have gained particular traction, convening 36 families in structured sessions designed to clarify roles, strengthen communication and align long‑term decision‑making.
Public reporting on these cohorts cites material improvements in commercial and internationalisation metrics after engagement, reinforcing the link between governance interventions and measurable outcomes. Complementing this, successor education is delivered through masterclasses and dedicated publications that reached more than two million impressions in 2024, helping prepare next‑generation leaders.
Bradesco’s succession work is underpinned by technical depth and cross‑border reach, with support for families managing assets and structures across jurisdictions, including Luxembourg and the US. This combination of governance‑led engagement, specialised expertise and international execution has made the bank a credible leader in succession planning during the review period.
Best for next-gen: Itaú Private Bank
Itaú Private Bank’s next-gen strategy has become one of the most structured and forward‑looking propositions in Brazil’s wealth management industry, responding directly to the risk that more than 30% of heirs discontinue their private‑banking relationships after a wealth transfer.
The bank’s Private of the Future programme places generational continuity at its core, introducing a dedicated next-gen niche focused on young inheritors and high‑potential future wealth creators. Its model blends personalised advisory with thematic experiences across technology, entertainment and sports, creating touchpoints that resonate with younger clients and deepen early‑stage engagement.
A key differentiator is the integration of advanced digital capabilities into the next-gen journey. The bank has deployed more than 300 artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, including a Life Planning conversational agent that supports wealth and succession planning – tools designed to deliver hyper‑customised guidance while scaling advisory capacity across generations. Itaú’s partnership with Addepar further enhances global portfolio visibility for families seeking consolidated reporting across onshore and offshore holdings.
The bank reinforces this digital and educational infrastructure with more than 350 annual events attended by over 7,000 families, promoting financial literacy and cross‑generational dialogue. Supported by strong talent retention and a multidisciplinary advisory model, Itaú offers a robust, contemporary approach to cultivating the next generation of Brazilian wealth holders.
Best for alternative investments: BTG Pactual
BTG Pactual strengthened its position as the country’s most comprehensive private markets platform. Its alternatives platform has expanded at a time when Brazilian private‑wealth clients are allocating more to private credit, real assets and cross‑border structures as part of broader diversification trends.
The bank’s scale in investment and wealth management gives it a distinctive ability to manufacture, structure and distribute alternative strategies across domestic and international markets.
BTG’s global origination team broadened access to specialist managers across private credit, real‑estate lending, secondaries and multi‑strategy hedge funds, while also engineering structures designed for Brazilian wealth‑planning and tax‑efficiency needs. The bank continued to deliver co‑investment and anchor‑allocation opportunities sourced from its investment‑banking and principal‑investing ecosystem, including insurance‑linked platforms and real‑estate credit strategies backed by leading global sponsors.
BTG also expanded its evergreen and semi‑liquid alternatives offering, giving clients more flexible ways to access private equity, real‑estate income and diversified hedge‑fund exposure through curated feeders. These vehicles were built around enhanced governance, institutional due diligence and a cross‑border booking architecture spanning Cayman, the US and Luxembourg.
Sustainability remains embedded in the platform, with partnerships in climate, infrastructure and impact‑oriented private‑market strategies responding to growing client demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG)‑aligned alternative allocations.
Best for digital solutions: Banco do Brasil Private
Banco do Brasil Private led Brazil’s private banking digital sector during the review period, due to its long‑term digital transformation strategy that integrates technology, intelligence and customer‑centric design at scale.
At the core of its success is an ecosystem of interoperable platforms that elevate advisory, deepen personalisation and democratise access to sophisticated financial solutions. Innovations such as CRM 360, a unique integration of Salesforce and Nice CXOne for WhatsApp‑based private banking, delivering real‑time and secure communication between clients and managers.
The bank’s artificial intelligence (AI)‑powered sentiment and preference analytics, portfolio diagnostics and hyper‑personalised recommendations brought in a new level of predictive, data‑driven engagement.
Client empowerment was further strengthened through a suite of proprietary tools: GPF for holistic performance analytics, GAS 3.0 for compliant, AI‑supported asset allocation, GIF for fund intelligence, and Investment Funds Dashboard for market‑wide comparative insight across 8,000 funds. Each solution advances operational sophistication while preserving the human advisory edge that defines Banco do Brasil Private.
Best for sustainability: Santander Private Banking
Santander Private Banking strengthened sustainable investing in Brazil during the review period by expanding its range of environmental, social and governance (ESG)-aligned products and tightening governance around their use.
The bank broadened its sustainable offering through two investment vehicles aimed at addressing key environmental and social gaps in Brazil. One strategy – EB Preferred Futures – channels growth capital into circular economy businesses, healthcare technology firms and agribusiness models that raise productivity while using fewer resources.
The second targets renewable-energy projects along with water and sanitation infrastructure, sectors that offer substantial long-term opportunities for sustainable investment in Brazil. Both strategies reached full placement, underscoring the growing appetite for ESG allocations among private banking clients.
The bank strengthened its ESG governance by embedding a more rigorous due-diligence framework that required managers to submit concrete, measurable indicators – such as recycled material volumes, healthcare service efficiency metrics, renewable energy capacity and avoided emissions.
By standardising these data points, advisers were able to assess environmental and social outcomes alongside financial performance, enhancing comparability across sustainable strategies and reducing non-financial risk.
Proprietary strategies from Santander Asset Management (SAM) complemented the platform. SAM’s alignment with global frameworks, together with Brazil’s ANBIMA sustainable investment classification and SFDR Article 9 standards, ensured consistent screening and transparent reporting for domestic and cross-border holdings.
Advisers helped convert client interest into tangible ESG allocations by coordinating closely with Brazil-based investment teams during the distribution of the EB Preferred Futures and Vinci Climate Change feeder funds, both of which exceeded their fundraising targets.
This commercial momentum strengthened Santander Private Banking Brazil’s role in scaling local impact strategies and broadening sustainable investment participation among its clients.
Best chief investment office: UBS
In a year when Brazilian investors navigated shifting rates, a strong dollar cycle and thin domestic equity issuance, UBS’s CIO stood out for timely, actionable guidance and the infrastructure to deliver it at scale.
The team’s Year Ahead framework, combined with frequent regional macro commentary, set clear positioning on rates, FX and cross‑asset opportunities for Brazil‑based clients. UBS amplified this with its Latin America Investment Conference, giving CIO house views a direct line to business owners and family offices.
The CIO franchise also benefits from Brazil’s rapid digitalisation and Open Finance build‑out, which has expanded data‑sharing and improved client onboarding – enablers for more personalised portfolio management and faster implementation of tactical views.
Against that backdrop, global research shows younger HNW investors are increasing allocations to private markets and private credit at a faster rate, trends the CIO integrates through diversified multi‑asset portfolios and curated alternatives access.
UBS’s local presence – strengthened by the Credit Suisse integration and a unified wealth platform – helps translate CIO convictions into Brazil‑specific portfolio solutions, including cross‑border diversification and risk management.
Best independent wealth manager: Turim
Turim distinguishes itself as Brazil’s leading independent wealth manager by pairing uncompromising fiduciary principles with disciplined, globally connected execution.
During the review period, the firm delivered above‑market growth, with assets rising in the double-digit range and client allocations expanding across 14 countries. This momentum was driven not by acquisition but by referral‑led onboarding and deeper penetration among existing ultra‑wealthy families, underscoring Turim’s reputation as a trusted long‑term partner.
Its independence is more than a label: Turim rebates 100% of retrocessions, declines unsuitable mandates and maintains one of the lowest cost‑to‑income ratios among Brazilian multifamily offices. This combination of governance and operational discipline enabled a very strong increase in revenue while preserving a conservative risk profile.
Product innovation kept pace, with new balanced vehicles optimised for Brazil’s updated tax framework, along with expanded access to global venture capital and special‑situations strategies.
Turim’s proprietary technology architecture further differentiates the firm. AI‑enabled onboarding cuts time spent drastically, automated processes strengthen portfolio integrity, and Turim’s app provides families with real‑time global visibility on portfolios and curated education through its exclusive webinars and market insights.
Simplifying client relationships for ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families is also a core tenet of Turim. As ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families often struggle with a multitude of service providers, Turim focuses on streamlining those relationships, from consultants to lawyers and trust services, through one unified and dedicated point of contact that addresses all of the UHNW family needs.
The firm also stands out for its long-term commitment to durable relationships, with most partners having been in the business for a decade or longer.
Best independent wealth manager for succession planning: G5 Partners
G5 Partners has reinforced its position as one of Brazil’s leading independent wealth managers at a time when ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families are demanding succession frameworks that balance governance, continuity and cross‑border capability. The firm oversees more than R$35 billion in assets, reflecting meaningful scale for a privately held boutique operating outside Brazil’s large banking groups. Independence remains central to its franchise, with the firm operating as Brazil’s largest independent financial‑services platform across wealth management, M&A advisory and private credit restructuring – an ecosystem that supports holistic, multi‑generational planning discussions.
Succession planning is increasingly shaped by regulatory change and rising family complexity. G5’s Wealth Planning leadership has been publicly engaged in national debates on the importance of gradual, well‑structured transitions, emphasising tools such as staggered lifetime donations and governance mechanisms that help align heirs without relinquishing senior‑generation oversight prematurely.
This perspective – highlighted in interviews with Brazil’s financial press – underlines the firm’s technical depth and its pragmatic approach to preparing next‑generation shareholders. Complementing this is G5’s ongoing publication of Radar Wealth Planning, which tracks developments in taxation, inheritance rules and regulatory reforms, helping families adapt their succession blueprints to a shifting legal environment.
Best independent wealth manager for digital solutions: Portofino
Portofino has built a digital stack that puts data and execution at the centre of the client experience. Portofino Digital delivers high‑precision portfolio diagnostics with automated, at‑scale reviews that shorten decision cycles, and surface risks and opportunities without manual reconciliation.
The Portofino Portal consolidates multi‑custodian, onshore and offshore holdings in real time, an essential capability for entrepreneurial families whose assets span brokers, jurisdictions and legal organisations. These tools are wired into an open‑architecture model, so advisers can curate the best external managers while retaining a single source of truth for allocation, performance and fees.
Automation runs through onboarding, reporting and control. Know your customer (KYC) and document flows are streamlined; recurring reports are generated programmatically with audit trails; exception handling is routed to specialists instead of clogging adviser bandwidth.
The platform also underpins Portofino’s multi‑vertical coverage – wealth planning, investment strategy, real estate and specialist desks for sports, arts and entertainment – so client teams can pivot from portfolio analytics to structuring and estate considerations without switching systems.
Digital delivery is consistent across the firm’s Brazilian offices and its US outposts, ensuring a uniform interface and data model regardless of booking location or custody choices.
Best independent wealth manager for alternative investments: Vêneto Family Office
Vêneto Family Office has developed one of the most advanced alternatives platforms among Brazil’s independent wealth managers, distinguished by meaningful allocation, rigorous selection and genuine product‑manufacturing capability.
The firm strengthened its analytical coverage of alternative assets during the review period, expanding manager relationships onshore and offshore, and embedding a more structured governance framework for due diligence. Its portfolios now dedicate roughly 5% to 10% to alternatives onshore and 10% to 13% offshore, a level of penetration unusual for a boutique platform and a material contributor to client returns.
A defining strength is Vêneto’s ability to structure exclusive and customised funds in partnership with specialist managers. The firm launched a suite of bespoke vehicles – including VP Root, Vêneto Real Rates, Icatu VP, Bocom BBM VP, Augme VP and VP Incentivado – designed to deliver tailored exposures, reduce costs by more than 30% in some cases and provide liability shielding and operational efficiency. These strategies span structured credit, high‑grade credit, legal claims, inflation arbitrage and other differentiated themes, demonstrating Vêneto’s capacity to engineer solutions beyond traditional fund‑selection.
Combined with its open‑architecture philosophy and increasingly sophisticated offshore infrastructure, Vêneto offers families institutional‑grade access to alternatives through a highly personalised, independent model – setting a new benchmark for Brazil’s boutique wealth‑management sector.
