Wells Fargo comes third, and UBS first, in a global ranking of the effectiveness and quality of private banks' e-publications and use of digital technology.

UBS, Switzerland’s
biggest bank, tops the global rankings of a study showing which wealth managers
have the best electronic magazines and digital channels, new figures show,
according to an exclusive report by this publication.

The Zurich-listed
bank comes first, followed by Credit Suisse, Wells Fargo, Banque Pictet,
Northern Trust and Vontobel, according to the report, Electronic Publications
for Wealth Management 2013, produced by MyPrivateBanking Research, the Swiss
organization. It drew the findings from a study of 35 of the largest wealth
managers around the world, in terms of assets under management.

There are serious weaknesses revealed by the study,
MyPrivateBanking said, and it recommended moves such as making more
publications available online, and to encourage wider use of mobile devices; a
broader range of topics should be provided to clients; content quality needs to
be improved – such as a wider range of languages - and publications should be
more interactive and use social media.

“The greatest weakness in many e-publication strategies is
to not focus on the needs and habits of wealthy individuals but to bore them
with statistics and economic forecasts instead of matters closer to their
personal interest and life,” Steffen Binder, co-founder of MyPrivateBanking and
managing director, said in a note accompanying the report.

The study looked at about 300 publications and ranked these according
to 34 criteria and grouped into eight main categories to be evaluated, such as
coverage of topics; availability of media, delivery of media/channels; user
experience; technical quality; content quality; feedback and best practice.

After analyzing performance across such tests, the study
produced a composite overall score, out of a maximum of 45. UBS had a score of
41, with Credit Suisse at 40, Wells Fargo at 39, Banque Pictet at 38, Northern
Trust at 37 and Vontobel also a 37.

“Each of the top performers offers an impressive and engaging
portfolio of e-publications with clearly targeted interactive e-magazines that
can be accessed via mobile devices as well as on their websites,” Binder said.

Still finding a way

The report found that a “significant” part of the wealth management
industry is still examining how to use new media, and a number of firms lack a
clear strategy in this area, it said.

For about a third of managers, the study found that “bits
and pieces” of electronic content were scattered among various publication hubs
of their wealth management websites.

The following banks were assessed: ABN AMRO, Banque Pictet,
Barclays, BB&T, BBVA, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Bradesco, Commerzbank,
Coutts, Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, DBS, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs,
HSBC, Investec, Itaú, JP Morgan, Julius Bär, Lombard Odier, Merrill Lynch,
Morgan Stanley, Nordea, Northern Trust, RBC, Santander,
Société Générale, Standard Chartered, Unicredit, UBP, US
Trust, UBS, Vontobel and Wells Fargo.