Diary of a private banker

James Dyson must be considered one of the most brilliant men of his generation. He took the humble vacuum cleaner, a feature of our homes for 100 years or more, and transformed it with cyclonic technology and made it a must-have prestige brand. This has earned him a net worth of $26 billion to date.

I am much disturbed by the vilification of members of parliament who speak up for wealth management and finance as a whole, with jobs outside the Commons.

One of my personal heroes is Daniel Pinto, chief executive of the ever-impressive Stanhope Capital.

Without a doubt, the people at Coutts & Co are the healthiest in the wealth industry by far.

Former UBS superstar Bradley Birkenfeld will arguably go down as one of Switzerland’s most notorious private bankers.

The great Covid pandemic is leaving a significant legacy for business and finance, not least in making homeworking pretty much permanent for many staff. Image: Elliott Brown

Sadly chums, I must make a shameful confession. Despite having a PC stuffed full of anti-virus software and ad removal programmes, I have just fallen lock, stock and barrel for an online email scam.

I have always thought of NatWest as rather like a nice London pub, trashed thoroughly by marauding Scots visiting the capital on an Anglo-Scottish soccer sporting fixture.

'Top Goldman Sachs man Robert Suss to join Pictet as head of its British operations', we read this week, with just a touch of amazement.

Banque Havilland, the Luxembourg private bank of David “Spotty” Rowland, and considered very much his own personal piggy bank, just can’t stay out of the headlines.