World's 25 Biggest Wealth Management Firms by AUM: 2021

Related: 25 Largest Independent RIAs by Client Assets

Aite-Novarica Group this month released the second iteration of the market monitor report the firm first published in 2019 to identify, rank and analyze the largest global wealth management firms annually. Researchers relied on public disclosures from firms and analyzed third-party research reports as well as existing knowledge and estimates to better understand the world's top 25 biggest wealth management firms. To identify this year's largest firms, Aite-Novarica ranked them based on their client assets, which it noted generally refers to discretionary and advisory assets under management, as well as to nondiscretionary brokerage assets and nondiscretionary assets that are held in custody-only accounts for private clients. It excluded self-directed brokerage assets. In the gallery above, ThinkAdvisor ranked the wealth management firms by assets under management — client assets over which the bank has a discretionary or advisory responsibility, and collects a management fee based on total client AUM, according to the research group. In a discretionary relationship, the report said, the firm obtains a mandate from the client to manage assets based on a set client requirement. Advisory assets include those for which the client has discretion over investment decisions, leveraging the firm's advice to make those decisions. See the gallery for the top 25 global wealth management firms ranked by assets under management, and including client assets.