JPMorgan Chase heads the list of banks in this year’s Who's Who in Bank Wealth Management a new study of the top 60 wealth managers in the US, published by the New York-based Bank Insurance & Securities Association.

JPMorgan Chase heads the list on the basis of its $6.53 billion in 2006 trust revenues.

Northern Trust was ranked third and Bessemer Trust 14th. Relative newcomers, Boston Private and City National scored 23rd and 24th.

To qualify for this year’s edition of Who's Who in Bank Wealth Management, participants were required to have more than $15 million in annual trust revenue or at least $20 million combined in trust revenues and investment income.

The highest relative wealth management contribution among banks was found to be Northern Trust. Its Personal Financial Services segment contributed nearly half (47 per cent) of the parent company's $665 million 2006 earnings.

Northern Trust was followed by Mellon Financial Corporation (32 per cent) and Wilmington Trust Corporation (21 per cent). No other institution had a reportable wealth management segment that contributed more than 20 per cent of overall corporate earnings.

Typically, $1 million in investable assets was found to be the minimum level required for an client to be considered a wealth management target within the 60 institutions surveyed, although the highest minimum was found at New York's Bessemer Group, where the threshold was $10 million.

Some banks, such as Citigroup, HSBC, and Bank of America, had $3 million minimums, whilst others, for example Boston Private, BB&T, and Wachovia reported $2 million thresholds.

Banks with $500,000 minimums tended to be smaller, often Midwest banks.

The study identified 16 institutions with ultra high net worth businesses where thresholds ranged from a high of $75 million at Northern Trust to a low of $10 million at several institutions.