People say private bank when they mean someone who answers the phone, and wealth manager when they mean someone who chooses funds. Firms use both phrases for a bundle. The only reliable split is the one in the documents: who holds deposits, who may lend, who may advise, and who holds the investments.
What sits on the banking side
Accounts, payments, cards, foreign exchange and, sometimes, borrowing against a portfolio or a property. These are banking services, with a bank’s eligibility rules. Living in another country can take you outside those rules even when the investment conversation is still welcome. Ask. A familiar brand in two cities can be two entities.
What sits on the management side
A mandate to advise or to manage a portfolio, custody of the assets, reporting, and a fee for that work. Discretionary, advisory and execution-only are different promises. A private bank can offer them. So can a firm that is not a bank. The presence of a marble lobby does not tell you which promise you signed.
The question for people who move
Which legal entity would contract with a resident of your country? Which investments can it offer you? Is lending available on your income, in your currency? If the answer is a sister company in another city, you are starting a new relationship, not extending the old one. Treat onboarding, source of wealth and the mandate as new.
The labels describe a relationship, and the contract describes the service
Private banking usually means a bank that also lends, holds deposits and may introduce investments, often to clients who keep a certain balance. Wealth management usually means advice or management of investments, which may sit inside a bank or in a firm that does not take deposits at all. Firms use the words loosely. Ask what you will actually get: a deposit account, a loan, custody of investments, advice, or a discretionary portfolio. Ask who the legal provider is, and in which country they are authorised to provide it to a person who lives where you live.
Minimum balances, fees and lending appetite are commercial terms. They are not stated here because they are not standard. Ask for them in the proposal, and ask what happens if your balance falls or if you move country. A relationship that depends on you remaining resident in the bank’s home country should say so before you rely on it for a mortgage or for a place to receive a house sale.
Advice, discretion and execution are different promises
If the firm will decide trades, that is discretionary management. If it recommends and you decide, that is advisory. If it only deals on your instruction, that is execution-only. The suitability work they must do, and the complaints you can later make, follow from that choice. Ask which one the contract is. A glossy review meeting can exist on top of any of the three.
Take the proposal and the fee sheet to a qualified adviser if you are also changing tax residence in the same year. A bank’s willingness to open an account is not a view on whether the investments are taxed favourably. Keep the contract, the fee schedule and the list of what they will not advise on. The limits are the useful part.
Before you act
Ask what happens to cash, to a loan and to investments as three services, even if one firm offers all of them. A firm that will hold a deposit may not advise on a pension, and a firm that manages a portfolio may send you elsewhere for a mortgage on a home abroad. The gaps are not a criticism. They are the map of who else you need. Ask how the firm is paid on each service, including any payment from a product provider, and ask for that in the same document as the fee you pay directly. If you are moving, ask again in the destination. A service that was permitted for you as a resident of one country is not automatically permitted for you as a resident of another.
A practical checklist
- Separate the account services from the investment mandate.
- Name the entity for each.
- Read discretionary versus advisory.
- Ask whether your residence is accepted for both.
- Ask how FX and lending are priced, separately from the management fee.
- Ignore the adjective ‘private’ until the services are listed.
Questions to ask
- Are you a bank for me, an adviser, or both?
- Who holds the assets?
- What may you do without my instruction?
- Do you serve residents of this country?
- What would a loan depend on?
- What do I pay, in a list rather than a phrase?
Common mistakes
- Assuming a wealth manager can replace a local bank.
- Assuming a private bank is managing the portfolio rather than holding cash.
- Signing a mandate to obtain a card.
- Ignoring which entity is regulated, and where.
- Choosing on the minimum you heard about, rather than on the service.
WiT Access provides general information and comparison resources. Nothing on this website constitutes financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Always consider obtaining advice from an appropriately qualified professional.
