The 15 biggest wealth managers in the world

One of China's "big four" state owned banks, ICBC is considered to be the largest bank and public company in the world by assets, with a private wealth management arm that ranks 15th in the world for AUM and climbing.

The San Francisco-headquartered bank has a prominent wealth management arm and remains one of the biggest names in US banking.

The 17th largest bank in the world by total assets, wealth management is one of three pillars of Deutsche Bank's (DB) business. DB's wealth management arm is one of the few in this ranking to lose ground on AUM in 2017, giving the leadership more bad news to handle.

The private arm of HSBC manages wealth for high-net worth individuals and families across 43 countries with subsidiaries in the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco and the Cayman Islands. It has climbed two places in the AUM rankings.

It is reported that over 20% of the wealthiest families in the United States are clients of Northern Trust's wealth management arm. Unlike many competitors it is dedicated to serving corporations, institutional investors and high-net worth individuals.

Headquartered in Guandong, on the eastern coast of China, the China Merchants Bank (CMB) has been expanding both domestically and internationally. Like many of the Chinese wealth mangers in this ranking its AUM is showing strong signs of growth.

The Swiss bank is the oldest in the country and specialises in wealth management.

The multinational investment bank has a strong wealth management division and an excellent reputation. Its ranking is unchanged from last year.

The French bank is the largest in the Eurozone and hit the top five biggest in the world after the 2008 financial crisis. Now still in the top 10, its wealth management arm maintains an impressive global ranking as 7th in the world by AUM.

Focusing on ultra-rich individuals, the subsidiary of Citigroup requires individuals to have to have net-wealth of at least $25 million before becoming a client. In October 2017 it was named the best brand in private banking.

The banking giant is the second largest in the US, containing a respected wealth management arm which holds over half a trillion dollars in assets under management.

The bulge bracket bank is comfortably in the top five private wealth managers globally by AUM.

Created in a post financial crisis merger with a wealth management arm of Citigroup, Morgan Stanley's wealth management arm tops $1 trillion AUM putting it in the top three globally.

A division of Bank of America, New York based Merrill Lynch Wealth Management employs over 15,000 financial professionals and has $1.08 trillion in AUM.

UBS manages the largest amount of private wealth in the world and is the undisputed giant in the sector with around half the world's billionaires reported to be clients.