SKN | Goldman Sachs Ranked Top Swiss Private Bank as New Study Reveals Sector-Wide Growth Stall

An American institution, Goldman Sachs, has been ranked as Switzerland’s best private bank, surpassing the nation’s own long-established champions in an exclusive new study. This surprising result comes from the latest Fin21 Wealth Management Study, which analyzed 69 Swiss banks. The findings reveal a sobering truth: while total assets under management have risen, fresh inflows of client money have dried up, signaling that the traditional Swiss private banking model is losing its growth momentum.

A New Benchmark for Swiss Banking

The comprehensive study, now in its fourth edition, measures industry performance across four key criteria: growth, capital strength, efficiency, and prosperity. Goldman Sachs took the top spot in the large bank category (over 20 billion francs in assets), outperforming local giants like Julius Baer and Pictet. The study’s authors note that Goldman’s success comes from a powerful hybrid formula. The bank combines the traditional Swiss strengths of discretion and high-touch service with the global scale, complex credit solutions, and institutional capabilities of a universal bank—a model that is clearly attracting record-high inflows while its peers struggle.

The Sobering Data: Growth Without New Money

The study’s most alarming finding is the divergence between market performance and client acquisition. Favorable markets lifted total client assets in Switzerland and Liechtenstein by nearly 10 percent to 8.7 trillion francs. However, this growth masks a deep problem: net new money—the lifeblood of the industry—fell by more than 14 percent year-over-year. As the study’s author, Christoph Künzle, notes, “The industry’s expansion is not fueled by new money.” This indicates that Swiss banks are struggling to attract the next generation of wealth, which is increasingly being created and booked in newer, more dynamic hubs like Singapore, Dubai, and the US, rather than in “Old Europe.”

Squeezed by Costs, Competition, and Digital Trust

The traditional private banking model is under pressure from all sides. Internally, high personnel costs and rising regulatory burdens are squeezing profitability, with the median cost-income ratio remaining high at 77 percent. Externally, the very nature of “trust” is being challenged. As finance professor Martin Janssen notes, trust is being supplemented or replaced by digital banking innovations like AI and blockchain. This new “institution-independent trust” levels the playing field and intensifies global competition. A bank can no longer compete on reputation alone when its services are being compared to global digital platforms.

The Future: A Hybrid Model

The data shows that clients, particularly ultra-high-net-worth individuals, now demand more than a simple deposit or checking account. They require sophisticated, global solutions, from complex loans and mortgage portfolios to institutional-grade investments. The dominance of UBS, which holds 66 percent of all assets, proves that scale is critical. Goldman Sachs’s victory is therefore more than just a rankings upset; it is a clear wake-up call. The data shows that the traditional, standalone Swiss private banking model must evolve by integrating global scale and advanced digital banking capabilities, or it will risk being left behind.

Closing Insights:

• Economic Insight: The 14% year-over-year drop in net new money is a critical warning sign that Switzerland is losing market share in the global competition for new wealth, indicating a structural, not cyclical, challenge.
• Professional Tip: For bank executives, this study proves that relying on market lift to grow assets is a passive and failing strategy. Future success will depend on disciplined cost management and aggressive investment in global client acquisition platforms.
• Broker Perspective: Goldman’s win confirms that the most successful wealth management model is the “universal bank” hybrid. Clients want a private banker who can also deliver the full power of a global investment bank—from complex credit facilities to IPO access—which most standalone private banks cannot offer.