Corient enters the Cayman Islands as family offices return to public equities

In the Americas, Corient moved into the Cayman Islands, Americana Partners launched a family office practice and Phil and Penny Knight committed $1 billion to the University of Oregon. In Asia, Deutsche Bank deployed agentic artificial intelligence for client onboarding and DBS expanded its Avaloq partnership, while 360 ONE and Barclays appointed new leaders. In Europe, BNP Paribas Asset Management reorganised its enlarged business. Globally, research from Citi and HSBC found family offices returning to public equities and wealthy entrepreneurs highly mobile across borders.

The 10 developments below are ranked by their significance for wealthy families, family offices and the private banks that serve them.

Corient enters Cayman Islands with FortCay family office deal

Corient announced on 23 September that it is acquiring FortCay Family Advisory, a Cayman Islands multi-family office that serves 14 ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families with about $ 2.6 billion in client assets. The acquisition establishes Corient in the Cayman Islands; the release gives no completion date. Corient reports about $572 billion, including signed transactions not yet closed.

Kurt MacAlpine, Founding Partner and Chief Executive of Corient, said a meaningful share of the world's most complex family wealth is structured and administered in the Cayman Islands. FortCay provides wealth management, estate planning and family office services. The deal follows Corient's agreements to add Letus Private Office in France in June and Seven Bridges Advisors, which managed $5 billion, and Summit Trail Advisors in the United States in July and August. FortCay equals less than 0.5% of Corient's reported client assets.

Deutsche Bank automates Source of Wealth checks with AI

Deutsche Bank Private Bank said on 22 September that an agentic AI solution for Source of Wealth checks, a core part of know-your-customer onboarding, went live in its Singapore and Hong Kong booking centres at the start of the month. Dubai advisers also use the solution for Singapore-booked accounts. A wider rollout is planned.

The tool drafts Source of Wealth assessments from client documentation and approved external sources, identifying gaps or inconsistencies for human review. Deutsche Bank expects the tool to support significantly higher onboarding volumes, and says its emerging markets coverage region is on track to onboard about 30% more clients in 2026 than in 2025. Yiping Li, Chief Operating Officer of Deutsche Bank Private Bank, said accountability remains with staff, while Marco Pagliara, Head of Emerging Markets, said relationship managers will spend more time advising clients.

DBS extends Avaloq partnership behind SGD 1 trillion target

DBS and Avaloq signed a memorandum of understanding on 25 September to expand their 18-year partnership across enterprise growth, co-innovation and a capability-building exchange. It supports DBS's aim of growing retail and wealth assets under management (AUM) to SGD 1 trillion ($780 billion) by 2030.

DBS's Wealth segment AUM passed SGD 500 billion ($391 billion) for the first time in the second quarter, reaching SGD 516 billion ($402 billion), up 16% in constant-currency terms, while wealth management fees rose 42% to a record SGD 919 million ($717 million). The firms describe adviser capacity as a key growth engine and cite what they call an acute industry talent crunch. Martin Greweldinger, Group Chief Executive Officer of Avaloq, said the partners plan to expand into new markets and train staff for an increasingly AI-enabled industry.

Citi finds family offices turning back to public equities

Citi Wealth's 2026 Global Family Office Report, published on 22 September, surveyed 351 family offices in 41 countries in June and July. Nearly half increased public equity exposure, making it the top destination for new capital, and global developed equities ranked as the most favoured asset class for future net allocations. Nearly 90% reported positive year-to-date performance and 41% target annual returns of 7% to 10%.

The shift comes as inflation became the leading concern and worries about tariffs, prominent in the 2025 survey, declined significantly. The report also records rising complexity inside the family office: 38% expect family globalisation to rise within five years, adding tax, structuring and compliance work, and about one-third expect a leadership transition in that period. Respondents are deploying AI mainly for productivity, with final decisions still made by experienced people.

HSBC estimates $367 billion in planned AI spending

HSBC Private Bank's Global Entrepreneurial Wealth Report 2026, released on 23 September, found that 79% of high-net-worth (HNW) and UHNW entrepreneurs plan to increase AI investment over the next year, allocating an average of 21% of revenue. HSBC estimates this equates to combined planned spending of $367 billion. The survey covered 3,085 business owners with at least $2 million in investable assets across 17 markets.

Confidence remains high but has softened: 95% are positive about business prospects, while those very positive fell to 49% from 54% in 2025. Some 83% are considering mergers or acquisitions, 72% lived in more than one country during the year and 70% plan to move or add a residency within the next year. Their top financial concerns are market volatility (31%), inflation (30%) and irreversible investment mistakes (29%).

360 ONE names Jefferies' Aashish Agarwal group chief executive

360 ONE WAM, which manages more than INR 7.8 lakh crore ($ 82 billion) for over 8,900 families, corporates and institutions, announced on 22 September that Aashish Agarwal will join as CEO of the group. Karan Bhagat, currently Managing Director and Chief Executive, will become Vice Chairman and remains Managing Director.

Under the new structure, Bhagat will drive group strategy, capital allocation and key client and institutional relationships, while Co-Founder Yatin Shah continues to lead wealth management. Agarwal has been Managing Director and Country Head of Jefferies in India since April 2020 and previously spent 13 years at CLSA, latterly as Head of Research. He said the needs of Indian clients and family offices increasingly span investing, capital raising and strategic advice, which the group will serve through its wealth, asset management and capital markets businesses.

Americana Partners formalises multi-family office for UHNW clients

Americana Partners, a Houston-based independent wealth manager with more than $12.1 billion in client assets as at 31 January 2026, formally launched Americana Partners Family Office Group on 22 September as a dedicated multi-family office practice for UHNW individuals and families. Its head, Matt Celenza, Managing Director and Partner, joined in 2025 and leads a team in Southern California.

The practice draws on Americana's 2026 acquisition of NRT Consulting, an accounting and financial consulting firm that added accounting, bill-pay and cash-flow forecasting across clients' operating businesses and personal holdings. Jason Fertitta, Chief Executive and Founding Partner, said an effective family office is defined by coordination across a family's decisions. Americana also runs a division for UHNW Latin American clients and plans to offer the family office practice nationwide.

BNP Paribas Asset Management reorganises after AXA IM acquisition

BNP Paribas Asset Management put in place a new organisation on 22 September, which it describes as a milestone in integrating its expanded businesses after BNP Paribas Cardif completed the acquisition of AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) in July 2025. The firm, which manages over EUR 1.7 trillion ($1.95 trillion), is now organised into alternatives, investments and a client group for liquid strategies, under CEO Sandro Pierri.

The alternatives business, with about EUR 300 billion ($344 billion) across real estate, infrastructure, alternative credit and private equity, is tasked with increasing third-party fundraising and broadening access to alternative investment solutions. A separate client group for liquid strategies targets growth across institutional, insurance, retail and wealth segments. When the AXA IM deal closed, BNP Paribas identified private assets as key drivers of future growth for institutional and individual clients.

Barclays hires Wee Yee-Yeong to lead Asia private bank

Barclays appointed Wee Yee-Yeong as Head of Private Bank Singapore and Head of Private Bank Asia on 22 September. He will join later this year from Morgan Stanley, where he is Chief Executive and Head of Sales for the Singapore wealth management business, and has advised UHNW clients across Asia Pacific for more than two decades. He succeeds Interim Head Alexander Harrison.

The appointment follows the launch of the private bank's Singapore booking centre earlier in September. Private Bank India remains under Adrish Ghosh, who reports to Annabelle Bryde, Head of Private Bank International, while the Singapore role works with distribution teams serving international Asian clients. Jaideep Khanna, Chief Executive for Asia Pacific at Barclays, said the appointment will help deepen relationships with entrepreneurs, family offices and international clients and connect them to the bank's banking, markets and financing capabilities.

Phil and Penny Knight commit $1 billion

Phil and Penny Knight committed $1 billion to the University of Oregon on 23 September to establish a College of Engineering at the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, which the university describes as the largest gift ever given to a comprehensive public university. It is the couple's third major commitment to the Knight Campus in 10 years, following commitments of $500 million each in 2016 and 2021.

The university says the earlier gifts drew further support from the state, industry partners, foundations and other donors, including the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance. Since 2016 the Knight Campus has created the university's first Engineering Department, grown to 17 research laboratories and formed partnerships with more than 200 companies. The proposed college must still pass through state and shared governance processes before it can be established.

What to watch next

Citi publishes third-quarter results on 13 October, followed by HSBC on 27 October and UBS on 28 October, with each release including disclosures on their wealth businesses.

BNP Paribas Asset Management has appointed 200 managers so far under its new organisation and expects further appointments over the coming months.