In private banking, the question sounds simple but runs deep: do you work for the client, the employer, or yourself?
Across a whole career, the answer evolves — and that evolution defines your credibility, fulfilment, and legacy.
Early on, most of us work for the employer. The bank provides structure, brand, and opportunity. That’s not selling out; it’s building foundations.
Mid-career, focus shifts towards the client naturally. Trust becomes the real currency. You move from selling products to solving problems, from transactions to stewardship.
Later, if you stay long enough to reflect, you begin to work for yourself — not against your institution, but guided by your own compass rather than someone else’s checklist. You still serve the client and the bank, but now through integrity, not instruction.
That’s where the quiet contrast appears. A Private Banker operates within an institution, aligning personal ethics with corporate frameworks. An Independent Wealth Manager is the institution, accountable only to their own compass. Different structures, same principle: service, trust, and clarity.
Viewed across a lifetime, the balance often settles around 25 per cent for the employer, 35 per cent for the client, and 40 per cent for yourself. It isn’t about loyalty in fractions; it’s about understanding where your motivation lives — and letting that awareness guide how you work.
Even at school, learning was never about the teacher. It was about the person you were becoming.
In private banking, the principle is no different.
Reflection: Are you acting from duty, from trust, or from purpose?
