Mega-rich get the personal touch

By Laura MacInnis and Lisa Jucca

GENEVA (Reuters) - From the golden beaches of Saint- Tropez to the pristine ski slopes of Gstaad it's the personal touch which has become the hallmark of bankers managing the money of the world's super-rich.

Need help buying a yacht or a vineyard? Call on your "relationship manager."

Catering for the needs of the world's millionaires and billionaires is big business and wealth managers are ready to provide a personal service to their clients, from help buying an art collection to advising their children about finance.

Recent research by Bear Stearns showed that the global fee pool for catering to the needs of millionaires and billionaires could top $200 billion by 2010 -- more than three times the income available in investment banking.

Many of the larger wealth management players have extended their services to help client spending as well as investing.

"We have a client who is on his third jet loan in two years. He's a corporate executive and needs a bigger and bigger jet," Marianne Hay, head of Citigroup's (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) wealth management in Europe told Reuters.

Private bankers said these kind of services were a necessary part of the bank's global offer to lure the wealthiest clients despite little or no return.

While retail banking has become increasingly remote as a result of automated tellers and online bill payments, industry experts say wealth managers have created a niche in delivering personal services for the very rich.

"Private banking is a luxury good," said Sebastian Dovey, managing partner of Scorpio Partnership, a consultancy for the wealth management sector.

The allure of today's private banking business, Dovey said at the Reuters Wealth Management Summit, is in the perception of getting pampered with top-notch treatment.

He told the summit that successful banks will need to seize on the exclusivity of their services to draw in new millionaires and billionaires, especially from emerging areas like China, India, Brazil and Russia.

LUXURY ITEM

"The industry is going to become much more consumer oriented. Senior management will recognize the premium of positioning this industry as a luxury item," Dovey said.

Wealth management professionals at Citigroup, J.P. Morgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other big banks run regular seminars to teach children of the ultra-rich about budgeting and financial planning, often in luxurious spots like Saint-Tropez.

HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) each summer organizes a Family Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Gstaad where their wealthiest clients gather to discuss how to manage and protect family money.  Continued...