Howard Milstein, a prominent American property developer and banker, is to set up a new private bank called New York Private Bank & Trust. T...

Howard Milstein, a prominent American property developer and banker, is to set up a new private bank called New York Private Bank & Trust. The bank plans to target the ultra-high net worth with accounts worth more than $50 million in investable assets.

The new bank will be based in Manhattan and provide a variety of services including alternative investments, premium health-care plans as well as banking.

Mr Milstein heads up the Milstein Group, a real-estate dynasty, whose holdings are estimated at well over $1 billion with millions of square feet of commercial property in New York. He and several family members acquired full ownership of Emigrant Savings Bank in 2003, which they have since restored to strong growth.

The new bank will be the first start-up in the wealth management space in New York City in several years, although many wealth managers have recently opened branches in the city. Most recently Northern Trust, Boston Private Bank & Trust and SunTrust Bank’s Asset Management Advisors have established a foothold in New York.

The New York area is America’s biggest wealth market. The metro region has about 578,000 affluent clients with over $500,000 in investible assets, according to Spectrem Group, the Chicago-based wealth consulting firm. The combined wealth of these clients totals more than $2 trillion. New York has also become a national draw, since rich families across the country increasingly travel to the city to do their banking.