At first sight Julius Baer’s decision not to provide a UK booking centre for clients based in the country, following its 2015 acquisition of Merrill Lynch International Wealth Management, appeared a little odd, especially for a firm that had ambitious growth targets.

A number of senior managers at competing firms thought that the Zurich-based firm had effectively scored an own goal. UK clients, they argued, preferred to have their liquid investment assets booked and kept in the UK rather than Guernsey or Zurich, the alternatives Baer offered.

If holding assets offshore was not anathema to the typical rich or wealthy U...