Does Financial Market Development Explain (or at Least Predict) the Demand for Wealth Management and Private Banking Services in Developing Markets?

How should wealth managers and private bankers find and serve the wealthy – particularly in developing countries? Several banks and consulting firms provide market sizing estimates for the number of high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals. However, it is still an open question whether financial management services actually create wealth (or increase the number of wealthy persons). How can financial advisors know if, on a macro-level, their service offerings grow their collective assets under management and increase their prospect numbers? In this paper, we find evidence that advanced wealth management and private banking services might help grow a wirehouse’s book of business in developed, but not developing, markets. If wealth management and private banking follow general trends affecting the broader financial sector, their business also grows wealth in less advanced economies. Such evidence sheds light on the currently ambiguous role that financial development seems to play in creating affluent, high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals.