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The recent fall in stock prices is making clients of private banks nervous. Uncertainty is bad for business, as has been the case in 2018. Here are some recommendations for wealth managers.

Investors have grown jittery since last weekend when U.S. President Donald Trump moved the trade dispute with China back to the top of concerns of traders.

Shortly before this week’s planned round of negotiations, Trump announced he would boost tariffs on Chinese goods. Despite this provocative move, China has not cancelled its trip to Washington, but the markets reacted as expected. The fall in equity prices brought back memories of last fall, when investors sold off their assets.

After two difficult quarters for investment banking, the industry knows pretty well what’s at stake. Even large firms such as UBS had a difficult start to the year 2019 and a new survey by the bank showed that rich clients are more pessimistic about the economy than last year.

If private banks and wealth managers are to retain the business of their clients, they will have to find new ways to do so. Here are some examples:

1. Access to Alternative Investments

Nowadays, private equity and real estate investments are a must for private banks. Those who don’t have such products ready will lose clients to the competition. A recently published survey among rich clients by J.P. Morgan Private Banking hammered home this point.

Wealthy clients expect alternative investments to beat all other asset classes this year. Their expectations must be met by private banks and wealth managers or they will lose out.

2. Crypto Finance Offering

The world of cryptocurrencies, digital assets and tokens is a parallel sphere and few Swiss banks have jumped on this bandwagon. They ignore an investment niche with a potential that is difficult to evaluate. But they may put off clients who at least have shown an interest in the new product line.

And not only that: most banks give the cold shoulder to clients who made money with crypto investments, citing regulatory and compliance concerns.

Technical tools, however, are readily available to help banks check the background of money in the crypto sphere. Only a few companies only, including Falcon Private Bank, Vontobel and Maerki Baumann have embraced the crypto business. Dozens more are mulling such a step behind the scenes and 2019 is the year they will have to enter the fray.

3. Gold – Central Banks are Buying

In times of difficult equity markets, many investors move assets into gold, based on the assessment that the commodity is less volatile. Also, gold is more than a mere code or even a coin, given its importance for the computer industry.