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Press release
16 Jul 2026
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Zurich, Switzerland
AI, self-directed investing and holistic wealth planning are changing the rules of the game in wealth management
- Over CHF 9,300 billion in assets: Switzerland maintains its leading role in wealth management. Wealthy clients already work with an average of 2.3 asset managers around the world
- AI is becoming the key driver of income and growth in wealth management.
- Just under a third of assets are managed on a self-directed basis, and the demand for personalized advice is shifting to complex financial issues.
- Holistic wealth planning is gaining in importance and opening up new advisory opportunities.
- Trust must be verifiable – transparency, comprehensibility and controlled use of AI are becoming key competitive factors.
Zurich, 16 July 2026 – In 2025, Switzerland managed more than CHF 9,300 billion in assets, retaining its status as a global center for wealth management. At the same time, private banking is under pressure, with affluent clients around the world already working with an average of 2.3 asset managers and managing around 29% of their assets themselves. In addition, the use of AI consulting makes asset management faster, more comparable and cheaper. These are the findings of the new EY Global Wealth Management Industry Report 2026.
For Swiss banks, the competition is shifting from pure investment services to greater relevance for advisory services. The main issue will be who supports clients at key financial moments with scalable wealth planning, controlled use of AI and verifiable advisory quality. Marcel Zünd, Head of Strategy & Execution Financial Services at EY Switzerland, said: “Swiss banking continued to perform strongly in 2025. The banks currently manage assets of more than CHF 9,300 billion. But if you want to grow in the future, you have to offer more than just investment performance and personal relationships. It will come down to whether banks understand the customer’s requirements earlier, use AI in a controlled manner and document advice in such a way that trust can be verified.”
This development is particularly relevant for Switzerland, as the Swiss market is highly competitive and margin-driven. Growth is therefore resulting less and less from pure market expansion and more and more from better customer penetration, greater advisory relevance and the ability to identify existing customer needs at an early stage and systematically translate them into specific solutions.
AI becoming the strategic operating system of wealth management
For Swiss wealth managers, this development is doubly relevant: AI can ease the burden on relationship managers, identify customer needs earlier and initiate the provision of advice more systematically. At the same time, the demands on governance, data quality, explainability and human responsibility are increasing. AI only becomes a competitive advantage if its use is controlled, comprehensible and responsible, particularly in the highly regulated Swiss market. Marcel Zünd added: “For the Swiss financial center, AI is not primarily a question of technology. The key question is whether banks will integrate AI into advice, control and customer interaction in such a way as to strengthen trust rather than weaken it. Viewing AI solely as an efficiency program is to underestimate its importance and the strategic shift in wealth management.”
Self-directed investing increases pressure on traditional advisory services
According to the report, self-directed investing is gaining in importance. As clients increasingly manage research, portfolio reviews and investment decisions themselves with the help of digital tools and AI-supported analyses, standardized advice loses its exclusivity. As a result, the value of human advice is shifting more and more to complex, responsible and context-dependent decisions.
For Swiss institutions, silent asset outflows are increasingly becoming more important than formal terminations. Clients are shifting parts of their portfolio to cheaper providers or those who are in a better position in terms of technology without immediately terminating the main relationship. The key issue is therefore not only whether a bank loses customers, but also whether it gradually loses access to data, decision-making authority and the share of wallet. Successful providers are those who integrate self-directed investing into a hybrid model – by enabling clients to be more independent at the same time as offering targeted guidance, institutionally controlled AI and human responsibility where decisions are complex, long-term or risky.
Wealth planning becoming the core of systematic customer acquisition
In saturated asset markets such as Switzerland, growth is increasingly generated by the early and more precise identification of needs in the existing client base. Wealth planning is becoming the central anchor for more systematic advice and customer acquisition. The focus is shifting from product marketing to supporting broader life goals – from optimizing the overall asset structure to retirement and succession and on to real estate, financing and tax issues.
This approach is particularly relevant for Swiss banks, as Switzerland is characterized by a high wealth density, complex household budgeting, cross-generational wealth issues and the major importance of pensions, real estate and succession. Wealth planning is thus moving from a specialized service for very wealthy clients to a scalable advisory logic for affluent and HNW segments.
The report argues that banks need to convert existing demand into a stringent advisory and sales process. This requires structured planning cycles, the involvement of specialists, more meaningful front-office KPIs and closer interlinking of client data, advisory triggers and specific measures. Wealth planning is thus becoming the operational backbone of client development.
Trustworthiness must be visible and verifiable
Perhaps the most important finding for Switzerland concerns trust. In a market traditionally shaped by reputation, stability and personal relationships, implicit trust alone will no longer be enough in the future. In this context, the report refers to “verifiable trust”. This is increasingly the result of explainable recommendations, documented decision-making logic, comprehensible suitability tests, verifiable measures and clearly identified human responsibility.
The results are thus at the heart of the Swiss wealth management model. Customers continue to expect discretion, stability and personal proximity, while advice, fees, AI use and product recommendations are becoming more transparent and comparable. It is therefore not enough for a provider to claim that it can be trusted – this must be backed up by evidence at key points of contact.
Urs Palmieri, EY Wealth & Asset Management Switzerland Leader, said: “This is much more than a technology upgrade – it is a fundamental change in the operating model of wealth management. Because advice is always accessible and customers’ expectations continue to rise, the decisive factor in the future will be not so much knowledge alone as the ability to implement it consistently.”
Conclusion: Swiss wealth managers face four strategic priorities
The first is to transfer AI from the pilot phase to controlled, productive workflows. It is not about the number of experiments, but the ability to integrate AI into consulting, controls and decision-making processes in such a way that scaling and trust grow in equal measure.
Secondly, asset managers must actively integrate self-directed investing into their advisory models. Customers are becoming more and more independent. This cannot be prevented, but it can be shaped – for example, through institutionally controlled AI and digital advisory environments that ensure that decisions remain within the bank’s ecosystem.
Thirdly, wealth planning must be made the operational backbone of client development. In the future, advice will focus more on objectives, life events and household budgeting than on products. This will result in more relevant discussions, better client penetration and stronger customer loyalty.
Fourthly, trust must become more tangible. In a market shaped by reputation and personal relationships, trust as a promise will no longer suffice in the future. The key will be whether customers can visualize recommendations, understand the use of AI and recognize clear human responsibility.
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