Summary: Private banks provide custody, lending, brokerage and investment access. Centry connects those services to the client's full tax and wealth picture, including residency, entities, family priorities and cross-border implementation.
How they compare
| Private bank | Centry | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Custody, lending & products | Tax-led, full picture |
| Alignment | Product distribution; AUM-linked revenue | Fee-based; sits on the client side, no product sales incentive |
| Tax integration | Rare; separate advisory teams | Tax and wealth reviewed together |
| Cross-border coordination | Limited to bank's own jurisdictions | Coordinates across multiple advisers and countries |
| Implementation | Within bank platform only | Across banks, custodians and advisers |
| Monitoring | Portfolio-only | Human-led monitoring across tax, wealth and deadlines |
Where a private bank may be the better fit
A private bank may be the better fit if the primary need is custody, lending, brokerage or investment product access, particularly where the complexity is concentrated within one jurisdiction and the client values a single banking relationship.
Where Centry may be the better fit
Centry may be the better fit where the client needs tax and wealth reviewed together, where complexity spans multiple countries, and where ongoing monitoring and implementation need to be coordinated across several advisers and institutions, not just within one bank.
Questions to consider
- Does your bank connect custody and lending decisions to your cross-border tax position?
- Who coordinates between the bank and your other advisers?
- How are changes in residency, rules or family circumstances tracked and acted on?
Important note
Website content is general information only. Personal tax advice requires a client engagement, review of the relevant facts and documents, and appropriate jurisdiction-specific analysis. This comparison is general information only and is framed around model fit. It is not tax, legal, investment or financial advice and does not claim that one model is best for every client. Where regulated investment advice or portfolio management is required, this is provided through our regulated partner Crito Capital, Empresa de Investimento, S.A., which is authorised and regulated by the CMVM in Portugal.