Faced with a competing throng of service providers, wealthy investors were already becoming more picky. Now that markets have worsened and performance moves up the list of priorities, private clients are keener than ever to shop around.

The private client industry is not known for its transparency and there is currently no common standard for reporting risk and return, let alone an agreed way of comparing private banks overall. But pressure for change has begun to be felt, especially from the new, more entrepreneurial type of private clients who is inclined to demand more information on how their money is being managed.