Private banks face challenges on multiple fronts in the form of flat revenue growth, falling margins, and client defections to banks with better digital footprints. Even more pressingly, declining levels of client activity and changing investment attitudes threaten the traditional business model of private banking.

Many banks have been looking to reverse this trend by offering differentiated service models. While fee-based advisory service offerings have been available in the market for clients, they were mainly offered by boutique investment advisors. During the decade after the financial crisis, several large bulge bracket banks in Switzerland started offering such services. Other international and regional private banks have followed suit, rolling out their own versions of fee-based advisory.

So, given the myriad features, pricing models and client benefits offered by different banks, what constitute the essential elements for this advisory model to succeed?