I went to Munich for the Oktoberfest and came back thinking about custody. More precisely, I came back thinking about custodian bank onboarding — a piece our industry has been missing.
A custodian bank hosted us, and its business centres on independent wealth managers. Their Munich headquarters is impressive, and the day was excellently organised. In the evening, the conversations moved from the meeting room to a wooden bench at the Wiesn, this time in Lederhosen.
But the moment that stayed with me came earlier, in a conversation about onboarding. Their approach puts the independent wealth manager at the centre: the account opening is completed digitally, together with the client.
The Question Every Onboarding Faces
Anyone who has onboarded a client knows the question that follows every first meeting: “Any news?” Often the honest answer is that a document is still missing. Not because anyone was careless, but because the gaps are hard to see from the outside. What I realised in Munich is that control over the process is a form of independence. Consequently, if you open the account while you are still sitting with the client, the answer to that question is already in your hands.
Why Custodian Bank Onboarding Is the Missing Piece
For Swiss independent wealth managers, custody has traditionally meant Swiss private banks, and they serve our clients very well. However, a custodian built around independent managers adds something to that landscape:
- Fewer hand-offs between a first meeting and an open account
- Processes and technology designed around our daily workflow, not adapted to it later
- More genuine choice in the custodian landscape for Swiss independent managers
That, to me, is the missing piece. Not a replacement for what works well in Switzerland, but an addition that makes an even more independent future possible for our industry.
My thanks to our hosts for an excellent day and an even better evening.
How do you answer “Any news?” during a client’s onboarding today?
