Like Tree17Likes

Private Banking options?

Closed Thread
Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 1 2
  1. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by MandM!:
    Not sure that anything good is offered. I have a couple friends who are bankers, and they tell me people have been losing money. But they sure earn nice salaries and bonuses (7 to 8 figures). What they typically sell has high fees or commissions built in them. Doesn't sound like a good viable option to me.
    But you don't have to buy the expensive products if you don't want to. The three things which private banks offer their customers which might make an account worth having are (i) a margin facility (ii) access to the primary market for bonds and (iii) access to research reports not made available to retail clients. If you are happy with ETFs/index funds and don't need leverage, then you may not need a private banking account.
    shri, foxwendal and tck like this.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    311
    Quote Originally Posted by hksomewhere:
    Is anyone happy with their private bank from the simple standpoint of receiving good advice and growing their net worth, net of fees? I'm fed up with the dreadful service from my various banks and brokers. As I've moved up to higher account tiers over the years, the only change is that they pitch insurance products at me more frequently and offer concierge services that can get me free credits/upgrades at luxury hotels and spas, if I book at their higher than normal room rates. I could go with a PB if I transfer assets from these other providers, but all I want is asset allocation advice and reasonable fees. I won't be able to make any non-vanilla investments due to work restrictions.
    For me what makes PB worth it (currently) is the margin facility and access to markets that I can’t get at retail level. As for whether the fees are worth it for a supposed higher return, I wouldn’t see the trade off in that light. Like all banks, they're incentivised predominantly by commissions/fees, always looking to churn turnover or sell costly products; the main difference is at PB they have an even greater range of crap wrapped in ever increasing complexity they’re allowed to throw at you. Investment self education is paramount for discernment. You need to know clearly what you want and be direct with them too. My banker has since stopped offering anything as she knows I have no interest in positions beyond my self directed ETFs. I’m sure she’s stopped for her own well being more than mine but it works.

    With the hard selling out of the way, they are however great for what I do use them for: cheap margin, safe custody and trading on any market you can think of, transferring in and out of positions to IB if needed, free international money transfers, additional bump in returns from stock lending that retail banks wouldn’t provide on my portfolio, prompt responses on any query no matter how minor that would take weeks in comparison for my revolving door of HSBC RM’s to get back on.

    However if I can ever find a retail bank to do the two main things I started this thread for (custody of UK shares allowing transfers in/out and competitive margin financing) or another PB to do it cheaper, I will likely close my UBS account to save the custody fee.
    Last edited by foxwendal; 19-04-2019 at 11:43 AM.

  3. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by foxwendal:
    Investment self education is paramount for discernment. You need to know clearly what you want and be direct with them too.
    This - you don't have to buy anything.
    shri likes this.

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    311
    Quote Originally Posted by traineeinvestor:
    This - you don't have to buy anything.
    Yes, but it's still important to note the much higher baseline fee of PB as a % of assets vs the usual nominal fee for retail account.

  5. #15

    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    311
    Quote Originally Posted by john_1122:
    If you consider that Julius Baer (which I would use for safekeeping the stocks) charges 0.35% to buy US traded securities, and 0.4% for all other countries, you would need to buy like ... a lot to make it worth it buying from Saxo (Julius Baer also charges a 0.1% yearly fee for safekeeping the stocks).
    @john_1122 hi, saw you posted this on another thread. could you kindly share if this is with Julius Baer in HK and what the minimum balance required for an account opening is?

  6. #16

    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Posts
    487
    Quote Originally Posted by foxwendal:
    @john_1122 hi, saw you posted this on another thread. could you kindly share if this is with Julius Baer in HK and what the minimum balance required for an account opening is?
    Yes, Julius Baer in Hong Kong. The minimum amount is 8 million HKD.
    They charge 0.5% to buy ETFs.
    foxwendal and pin like this.

  7. #17

    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    311
    Quote Originally Posted by john_1122:
    Yes, Julius Baer in Hong Kong. The minimum amount is 8 million HKD.
    They charge 0.5% to buy ETFs.
    Thanks for the info. Would you happen to know if JB also provide stock lending returns on your portfolio? for example, I get roughly 0.05% yearly back on the stocks I hold with UBS which offsets their 0.15% custody fee (of course, this is variable and dependent on borrow demand of the stock)

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Posts
    487
    Quote Originally Posted by foxwendal:
    Thanks for the info. Would you happen to know if JB also provide stock lending returns on your portfolio? for example, I get roughly 0.05% yearly back on the stocks I hold with UBS which offsets their 0.15% custody fee (of course, this is variable and dependent on borrow demand of the stock)
    I am sorry for the late reply. I didn't see your message. Unfortunately I have no idea. But I think the custodian fee is about 0.1%.
    foxwendal likes this.

  9. #19

    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Posts
    13
    Quote Originally Posted by foxwendal:
    [...]
    Open to options outside HK too (i.e SG), PB or otherwise. thanks in advance.

    edit: I am specifically looking for a bank entity for safekeeping. and thus, a brokerage doesn’t work here.
    Interesting thread. Since you mentioned SG, have you seen Standard Chartered SG online trading fees? There is no annual custody fees, trading fees are 0.2% for priority banking customers (S$200,000).

    Why does it have to be a bank I wonder? Safety concerns?

    @john_1122, if I may ask opening JB HK account where is your actual trading account / investments kept? If it is Switzerland, is the 0.5% trading fees including of 0.15% stamp duty?

  10. #20

    Join Date
    Oct 2018
    Posts
    487
    Quote Originally Posted by dxb:
    @john_1122, if I may ask opening JB HK account where is your actual trading account / investments kept? If it is Switzerland, is the 0.5% trading fees including of 0.15% stamp duty?
    Sorry about the late reply. I have been away for a while. I believe it's in HK. Yes, I believe it's inclusive of the 0.15% stamp duty.