Funds Hub

from Summit Notebook:

Everyone needs a private banker

Everyone needs a private banker. Full service means exactly that for one speaker at the Reuters Wealth Management Summit. The 'normal' range of extras that wealth managers are offering super-rich clients under the banner Lifestyle Management has expanded as they scramble to keep on board clients whose massive wealth was rendered a little less massive during the financial crisis.   Citigroup's private banking arm keeps an art curator on staff to make sure clients don't overspend at auctions and maximise the value of their collection - it's a real problem apparently.   But one of the smaller banks represented at the summit goes a lot further than that. "We do pretty much whatever they want." On further investigation this stops short of walking the dogs but it does include managing fleets of vehicles, relocation for tax exiles, school selection for the rich in-waiting, wine cellar stocking, art advice (of course) and payroll services for the hired help.   But what was the most unusual request he has ever had from a client? "We were once asked pick up some strange medication and we organised the redecoration of the interior of a private jet in questionable taste," said one private banker. He wouldn't say any more, but some might think that was too much detail already.

The art of investment

A fund investing in the works of Banksy and Damien Hirst is the sort of thing you might expect to be launched at the height of a bull market, but Castlestone Management has chosen the depths of the current bear market to debut its Collection of Modern Art fund.

The fund, an 8-year investment vehicle with a minimum investment of $10,000 or 10,000 pounds, will buy up art in genres such as impressionist, post-war, contemporary, sculpture, urban art and photography, while its managers will be supported by experts from auction houses, dealers and artists.