COUTTS IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST EXCLUSIVE BANKS IN LONDON AND USED BY HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF UNITED KINGDOM, HOW'S THAT? INDEED MANY REFER TO COUTTS AS THE QUEEN'S BANK WHICH GIVES THE WRONG IMPRESSION IT IS OWNED OR CONTROLLED BY THE QUEEN
DATOKEEHUACHEE@GMAIL.COM
BY Joshua M. Jost
CEO of an Emerging Market Impact Startup (2020–present)
Do you see this bank? It’s based in London and you will need a cool £1m to open an account.
I was there this week (no I’m not a customer) and this is the inside.
There’s a lot more than that. It has a cafe, private dining room, and several very grand meeting rooms.
There are many private banks that only deal with the Ultra High Net Worth. They pride themselves on providing a very personal and discreet level of service. Many of their customers don’t really want to broadcast their wealth; they prefer anonymity.
Not all of the Ultra High Net Worth use small private banks. There are advantages to working with a large multinational bank due to their branch locations around the world and their market strength. But they will work with a specialised unit within the bank.
Many of these banks will have private banking divisions with lush lounges for their customers that rival first class airline lounges. I know of one in London that has a Michelin Starred chef on staff!
Typically to bank at that level, you have to have more than $20m in assets with the bank, which means your net worth will be far, far greater than that, probably in excess of $100m.
In addition, most Ultra High Net Worths will have a family office. This is basically like a company set up just to manage their money. The family office will act much like their personal bank, moving assets between accounts and other investments as needed. They will also manage their properties, private jets, yachts and so forth.
I’ve heard people say that the wealthy don’t keep a lot in cash. That’s not necessarily true. They will probably have about 1% of their income in liquid form, which if you are a billionaire, is around $10m. It’s always nice to be able to drop cash on a house, supercar or rare work of art when the opportunity arises. Plus, most of the banks will give them a line of credit based on their assets under management.
It’s worth mentioning that being in the top 1% doesn’t require as much wealth as one might think, and most in the top 1% wouldn’t meet the criteria to bank at these institutions. To be in the 1% you just have to have $1m in net worth, and many middle aged people in the developed world have that between their home and their retirement accounts.
So in fact, the 1% do use the same banks as you and me. But for the top 0.00003%, it’s an entirely different game.
EDIT
On the topic of whether these people are selfish or evil:
Before I started working in these circles, I was of the opinion that they were all sociopaths. But my experience has been surprisingly different.
I’ve met some who are very kind, and family oriented and have built their wealth by being very honest and fair with everyone they work with. They are concerned about the state of the planet and are interested in ways to use their wealth to benefit others. Not that they don’t enjoy it themselves, but they are grateful for what they have achieved and feel a duty to give back.
The bank I mentioned at the top has a strong ethos around philanthropy often organises events and talks on effective giving. They are very family oriented and have no interest in dirty money.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve also met some UHNW’s who were pure psychopaths and literally made my skin crawl. They viewed the underclasses as disposable and less than human and were absolutely obsessed with power. But not all the wealthy fall into this category and I suspect some are working in quiet opposition.
On the topic of anonymity
The reason they prefer discretion is that being well known and extremely wealthy is a curse. You can never go anywhere without security. You are constantly approached for selfies or because people want something from you. Your normal life is basically over.
It might seem glamorous to begin with but when you can’t just walk down to the local coffee shop or let your kids go to school without an entourage, it becomes quite isolating. You actually see this in some celebrities who turn into paranoid recluses because they can’t cope with the pressure. The fame is suffocating them.
One of the saddest things I’ve learned is that, due to the intense scrutiny of their lives, their greatest luxury is just to feel normal.
If you can be extremely wealthy while everyone thinks they are just an average Joe or Jane, it’s ideal. But it takes work to stay this way.
In fact, many of the world’s wealthiest, who are far wealthier than those on the official rich lists, manage to stay completely off the radar and are powerful enough to keep it that way.
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