UBS Is Top Of The E-Publication Rankings, Wells Fargo Comes Third; Wealth Industry Must Raise Its Game - Study

Tom Burroughes

3 September 2013

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.