SKN | ING’s Private-Banking Expansion: What HNW Families Should Reassess in a Swiss Wealth Structure

Key Takeaways

• ING is becoming a more consequential wealth-management institution: assets under management reached €322 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 27% year on year.
• Its planned investment in Spain’s Singular Bank signals a deliberate move to strengthen private banking rather than remain primarily a retail and corporate banking platform.
• For HNW families, ING’s value lies in its European banking network, digital infrastructure and connection between private wealth, business banking and wholesale markets.
• For families already using Zurich or Geneva private banks, ING is best assessed as a complementary European banking relationship, with custody, jurisdiction, liquidity and succession responsibilities clearly separated.

ING is quietly changing the shape of its wealth proposition. The Dutch banking group reported €322 billion in assets under management in the second quarter of 2026, up 27% from a year earlier, while its broader private-banking and wealth-management franchise continues to expand. Its planned acquisition of roughly 40% of Spanish wealth manager Singular Bank, expected to close in 2027 subject to approvals, is particularly relevant. The message for HNW families is not that ING is becoming another Swiss private bank. It is that a major European universal bank is building a more deliberate wealth-management layer around its existing banking infrastructure.

Use ING Where European Connectivity Creates an Advantage

ING’s principal strategic asset is its geographic and operational footprint. The group operates across major European markets while combining retail banking, business banking, wholesale banking, payments and investment services. For entrepreneurs and families with operating interests across the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Italy or other European markets, that connectivity can reduce fragmentation.

The distinction matters. A family with multiple operating companies may value having banking relationships that understand both corporate cash flows and personal wealth. ING’s wholesale banking platform provides lending, transaction services, trade finance and financial-markets capabilities, while its wealth business increasingly provides the investment layer.

That creates potential efficiency—but efficiency should not be confused with consolidation.

Separate European Banking From Swiss Wealth Architecture

For a family already established with a private bank in Zurich or Geneva, ING does not necessarily compete for the same role. Swiss private banking can remain the central jurisdiction for international custody, multi-currency wealth, succession planning and long-term capital preservation, while ING can serve specific European banking or operating requirements.

This distinction becomes increasingly important as families become more geographically mobile. A Dutch or Spanish banking relationship can be highly effective for local business activity while creating different regulatory, tax and reporting considerations from assets held through a Swiss institution. The structure should therefore be designed around legal entities and functions, not around the convenience of one login or one relationship manager.

Watch the Singular Bank Strategy Closely

ING’s investment in Singular Bank is strategically more interesting than its headline size. The transaction gives ING an entry point into one of Europe’s important private-banking markets while allowing the Spanish wealth manager to retain its own identity and management structure.

For HNW families, this signals an industry trend worth monitoring: universal banks are increasingly combining digital scale with specialist wealth-management platforms rather than forcing every wealthy client into a traditional branch-based model.

That can improve access and efficiency, but it also raises a due-diligence question. Families should understand whether the private-bank relationship remains genuinely tailored or gradually becomes integrated into a broader institutional sales and product ecosystem.

Assess the Balance Sheet Behind the Relationship

ING’s CET1 ratio stood at 13.1% in the second quarter of 2026, while the bank continued to generate strong lending and deposit growth. Net core lending increased by €15.2 billion during the quarter and net core deposits by €15.9 billion. These figures point to a bank with substantial commercial momentum and a broad funding base.

For private clients, however, capital strength should be only one part of counterparty analysis. The more important exercise is to identify which ING legal entity holds each asset, which entity provides financing, how collateral is treated, what deposit protections apply and how portable the relationship would be during a relocation, liquidity event or succession transition.

Build Redundancy Before You Need It

A sophisticated HNW structure should not depend on one institution for custody, operating liquidity, lending and investment management simply because the bank can provide all four.

ING can be particularly useful where European operating banking, payments, financing and wealth management intersect. A Zurich or Geneva institution can provide a different layer of jurisdictional diversification and international wealth coordination. Keeping those functions deliberately separated can create greater resilience without unnecessary banking complexity.

The strategic question is therefore not whether ING belongs in an HNW family’s banking architecture. It is whether the institution has been assigned a role that genuinely improves efficiency, geographic diversification or access to European markets—and whether that role remains clearly separated from the family’s core wealth-preservation structure.

For a confidential discussion regarding your cross-border banking structure, contact our senior advisory team.