Advisory market
Private banks, wealth managers and advisory firms: deals, mandates, fees and recognition.
Two J.P. Morgan Advisors teams leave with $18.6bn to found Latigo Peak Partners, without private equity
On 19 October 2026, Phil Scott and Jim Atwood announced Latigo Peak Partners, a self-funded independent firm for ultra-high-net-worth families. They declined private equity backing, at a time when PE-backed buyers account for almost nine in ten US RIA deals.
UBS leaves fund administration and moves its Luxembourg white-label clients to Universal Investment
On 6 October 2026 UBS agreed to transfer the former Credit Suisse fund administration businesses in Switzerland and Luxembourg to Northern Trust, and named Universal Investment as preferred third-party management company for its Luxembourg white-label clients.
HSBC to cut most of its UK wealth advisers, according to the FT
On 7 October 2026 the Financial Times reported that HSBC is consulting on cuts to around 70% of financial adviser roles in its UK wealth business, as the bank shifts towards AI-assisted and digital service. HSBC has not confirmed the figures.
Nuveen completes its Schroders takeover. Cazenove Capital clients have a promise of 12 to 18 months.
On 1 October 2026 Nuveen, the TIAA-owned asset manager, completed its £9.9bn acquisition of Schroders. The wealth arm, including Cazenove Capital, is called central to the plan, but the continuity commitments to clients and teams are time-limited.
BNP Paribas opens a Nordic wealth business and hires SEB's family office head to build it
On 1 October 2026 BNP Paribas announced its entry into Nordic wealth management for UHNW clients, entrepreneurs and family offices, led by Stina Norrhede from SEB. The release sets out the ambition; the operating details are still to come.
Axis Capital floats a €3.20-a-share counter-proposal for PTSB, weeks before the Bawag sanction hearing
On 2 October 2026 Axis Capital, the Dublin firm co-founded by former banker Mark Duffy, said it was considering a cash offer for PTSB 7.7% above the agreed Bawag price, with no financing yet committed. PTSB called it highly speculative and conditional.
Swiss senators vote to make UBS hold $16bn more capital against its foreign arms
On 23 September 2026 the Council of States voted 29-16 to require UBS to back its foreign subsidiaries with CET1 capital worth 90 per cent of their value. The bill now goes to the lower house, and a final answer is unlikely before 2027.
Citi builds a vetted list of specialists for its family office clients, and takes no fee for the introductions
On 10 September 2026, Citi Wealth launched The Specialist Collection, a curated network of outside providers in seven areas, from cybersecurity to private aviation, for its North American private bank and family office clients. The bank has not published who is on it or how they got there.
J. Safra Sarasin opens in Athens. Greece is now attracting the banks, not just the residents.
Banque J. Safra Sarasin (Luxembourg) began operating a Bank of Greece-registered branch in Athens on 15 September 2026, run by a former head of Eurobank private banking. Foreign private banking capacity is following the money into Greece.
UBS builds a fund programme around the minimum a family office cannot write alone
UBS Global Wealth Management has launched the Exclusive Manager Access Fund Programme in Hong Kong and Singapore, with a $5 million commitment and a $500,000 minimum per fund. The bank says family offices asked for it.
Pierre Mirabaud is convicted in Bellinzona. The bank that carries his name was not a party.
On 8 September 2026 the Swiss Federal Criminal Court gave Pierre Mirabaud, a former partner of Mirabaud & Cie and president of the Swiss Bankers Association, a two-year suspended sentence for bribing a Kuwaiti official and for money laundering.
Jyske Bank buys Formuepleje. Denmark has one fewer large independent manager.
On 2 September 2026 Jyske Bank agreed to acquire Formuepleje, a DKK 40bn Danish wealth manager, for an undisclosed price. The figures all come from the buyer, and the questions that matter to clients are the ones neither party has answered.
Barclays opens its Singapore booking centre. The pitch to family offices is investment-bank access.
Barclays Private Bank began booking client assets in Singapore on 4 September 2026, nearly two years after announcing the plan. The interesting part is not the office but where the assets now sit, and what the bank is selling alongside custody.
JTC leaves the London market in a £2.7bn take-private, two months after absorbing Citi Trust
Permira and CPP Investments completed their acquisition of the Jersey trustee on 1 September. For the families whose structures JTC administers, the ownership of their trustee has now changed twice in fourteen months.
Victory Capital buys First Eagle for $7 billion. The manager stays; the owner changes.
Genstar Capital is selling the $222 billion manager to a listed consolidator funded by a $3.5 billion term loan. For families holding the funds, the questions are consents, leverage and what $280 million of synergies touches.
Vanguard buys Altruist, and the adviser's custody platform becomes a fund manager's
Vanguard agreed on 26 August to acquire the RIA custody and technology platform it first backed in 2020. Reported prices run from $4bn to $4.6bn against a $1.9bn valuation at Altruist's last funding round.
Forbes suspends its adviser rankings: the business of being ranked
Forbes suspended its adviser rankings over an undisclosed $6m payment. How ranking businesses earn, and how much trust wealthy families should place in them.
Liechtenstein's two largest banks report record client assets within a day of each other
LGT posted first-half profit of SFr281.6 million and assets of SFr412.6 billion, a record. LLB reported net profit of SFr105 million and client assets of SFr115 billion, also a record. Neither release says anything about family office money.
EFG sells its Midlands business to Canaccord and puts its UK arm on HNW and UHNW clients only
Canaccord Wealth has agreed to acquire the front office teams and client assets of EFG Harris Allday, a 175-year-old Midlands wealth manager with £3.1 billion under management. EFG says its UK region will now serve high and ultra-high net worth clients.
BKL buys music accountancy firm Dales Evans, its fifth deal since taking private equity money
London advisory firm BKL has acquired Dales Evans, a specialist music, media and entertainment accountancy practice. It is BKL's fifth acquisition since CBPE invested in 2023, and another boutique adviser absorbed into a backed consolidator.
A $51 billion regional bank opens a family wealth office, and hires two people to run it
F.N.B. Corporation has launched F.N.B. Private Family Wealth for ultra-high-net-worth clients, hiring Benjamin Ciocco and Frank Aloi to lead it. The announcement says what the unit will cover, but not how large it is.
Carlyle takes a minority stake in Prime Capital Financial at a $1.8 billion valuation
Carlyle's credit arm is putting roughly $600 million into the Kansas wealth manager as Abry Partners exits, the latest sign of private capital buying into firms that serve wealthy families.
Corient buys $21bn Summit Trail Advisors, pulling more outsourced family office work into its orbit
Corient has agreed to acquire Summit Trail Advisors, a New York RIA with $21 billion in client assets and an ultra-high-net-worth focus, adding outsourced family office and CIO services as the Miami firm's run of large deals continues.
Franklin Templeton reported in talks to buy AlTi Global, the $90bn UHNW wealth manager
Citywire reports that Franklin Templeton is in talks to acquire AlTi Global, the Nasdaq-listed multi-family office group with around $90 billion in assets. Neither firm is commenting. A deal would take wealth consolidation into the top tier of UHNW advice.
Sun Life brings its HNW underwriting hubs under one private-wealth platform
Sun Life has combined its Singapore, Hong Kong and Bermuda underwriting centres into Sun Life Private Wealth, a single platform for high- and ultra-high-net-worth families managing cross-border succession.
Carlyle and Bain Capital reach the final round for $160bn Wealth Enhancement
Two of private equity's largest firms are the last bidders for Wealth Enhancement Group, a US adviser with roughly $160bn in client assets, in a deal reported at about $7bn that would rank among the sector's biggest.
BlackRock's head of UK family offices leaves without a named successor
Spear's reports that Victoria Matthews, managing director and head of UK family offices at BlackRock, has left the firm, with no replacement announced.
Charles Russell Speechlys opens in New York with a six-partner move from Withers
The London private client firm has opened offices in New York and Connecticut, hiring a six-partner team from Withers to build its first North American base.
Citywealth's 2026 Top 75 Trustees and IFC Family Office list is out. What it counts, and what it asks of the people on it.
Citywealth published its 2026 Top 75 Trustees and IFC Family Office list in early July. It rests on peer and client references rather than a fee, and it tracks a trustee role that keeps widening.
UK advice consolidation keeps rolling as Clifton Wealth buys Morgan Law
Clifton Wealth Partnership added Morgan Law Financial Services on 1 July 2026, the latest in a run of UK advice-firm deals. What the pace of consolidation means for families choosing a private-client adviser.
CNBC launches an Elite Advisors list for the ultra-wealthy. Twenty-five US firms, $2.1 trillion, one new ranking to read carefully.
CNBC's 2026 Elite Advisors list names 25 US advisory firms serving clients with $25 million or more. It is another entrant in the crowded business of ranking advisers — useful as a signal, limited as a verdict.
How families should choose their advisers
How wealthy families should vet advisers: reading past the rankings, why recognition across several independent sources matters, and the questions to ask.
Winston Taylor launches as 1,400-lawyer transatlantic firm with private wealth at its core
The merger of Winston & Strawn and Taylor Wessing UK went live on 1 June 2026, creating a £1.2bn firm that positions private wealth as one of four defining capabilities.
Choosing and working with a multi-family office
A good multi-family office buys you scale and expertise without the burden of building. The hard part is telling a good one from a polished sales process.
The week in family offices
One email a week: what moved across family offices and private wealth, and what it means.