World’s Best Private Banks 2025: Latin America

The private banking landscape in Latin America is experiencing significant growth and transformation. The rising number of middle-class investors has led to an increase in the number of private banking clients. However, it has also decreased the total share of assets under management (AUM) for private banks.

At the same time, the region has seen a surge in family wealth and the establishment of family offices, driven by market gains and economic improvement. Multinational banks increasingly focus on Latin America as a key growth market, revamping their teams and opening new divisions to capture a larger share of the region’s wealth.

The economy of Latin America and the Caribbean is slowing this year in the face of higher-for-longer interest rates and elevated political uncertainty, according to credit insurance provider Atradius. The slowdown comes relatively smoothly, and the insurer expects a significant recovery in 2025, demonstrating the region’s improved resilience.

BTG Pactual is again the Best Private Bank in Latin America, having led the segment for five consecutive years. The Bank’s Wealth Management area has an experienced team that understands clients’ objectives and demands, offering the most appropriate and complete investment solutions in Brazil and abroad.

The bank delivered another quarter of strong fundraising between April and June, with a net 56 billion Brazilian real (about $9.7 billion) inflow of net new money, reaching 1.7 trillion reais in AUM or custody. The inflow was split evenly between assets and wealth management, which once again had its highest quarterly revenue: 928 million reais, an increase of 28% in the annual comparison.

BTG has consistently offered exceptional global products and delivered fully integrated private banking experiences. Its Latin American presence serves clients who need tailor-made, region-specific, wealth-planning solutions.

Santander Private Bank currently has socially responsible investing (SRI) advisory mandates in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Chile, the US, and Switzerland, but focuses mainly on Europe. By 2025, the bank will incorporate ESG into eight countries’ portfolio management and advisory services. The banks seeks to grow its strategic businesses and achieve greater portfolio diversification, quality, and return.

The total value of Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations (SFDR) Article 8 and 9 products, which meet environmental, social or sustainable goals, and products meeting similar criteria applicable in Latin America, amounted to €67.7 billion (about $71.7 billion). Of that amount, €48.1 billion was managed by Santander, and €19.6 billion was in third-party funds advised by Santander Private Banking. This performance is attributable to the bank’s successful product investment strategy based on the SFDR, the EU’s Green Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFD), which introduced sustainable considerations regarding financial advising and investment decision-making within MiFD II, and the improvement of advisory services linked to SRI.

The integration project of Bradesco Global Private Bank with WhatsApp and Salesforce exemplifies innovation aimed at excellence in customer service and operational efficiency. With this initiative, implemented in May 2024, the bank unified two of its team’s and its clients’ most-used platforms, allowing all interactions carried out via WhatsApp to be recorded and archived directly in the customer relationship management platform. This process ensures that the complete history of conversations is maintained, even if the client deletes the messages, so that that any team professional can access detailed and updated information about each client, regardless of when the interaction occurred.

The solution brought greater agility and precision in service, providing a highly personalized experience aligned with each client’s specific needs—fundamental characteristics for the ultrahigh net worth segment. By focusing on client needs, this initiative allows the team to save time and elevate the quality of services. It involves its innovation ecosystem, inovabra, and strategic partners.