We take a regular look back at important news stories and what the editorial team is working on.

It has been a month since I last updated you on our news agenda – and what’s coming up next. It’s been an exceptionally busy and rewarding time.

Three weeks ago, just before the Coronation of King Charles III in the UK, this news service's team was in New York for the annual Family Wealth Report Awards – the tenth time we have held this event which is now a fixture in the North American wealth management calendar. In the days leading up to and after this, storm clouds darkened over First Republic Bank – now owned by JP Morgan – adding to the sagas of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

We’ve covered these episodes to the extent where they resonate with our wealth management audience; we try to avoid getting too stuck in the “weeds” to convey where these deals might leave the industry. A lot of people are considering changing jobs and these are unsettling times in the US and Swiss banking sectors, among others. Staying with the banking sector, the team continued to track the progress of the UBS takeover of Credit Suisse. Lawsuits are being filed by AT1 bondholders who are unhappy about the write-downs to these bonds. 

Elsewhere – and more positively – Canada’s CI Financial has sold stakes in some of its US wealth businesses. US correspondent Charles Paikert has covered the CI story and other corporate activity extensively. (See Charles' analysis here.)

Merger and acquisition activity in the North American, European and Asian banking and wealth management markets remains an important staple. For example, AlTi, the multi-family office built out of the merger last year of Alvarium in London and Tiedemann in the US, announced this week that it had bought a Singapore-based business. The team has tracked how Singapore and Hong Kong continue to compete for the family office business – time will tell who has the right strategy. Right now, it looks as though Singapore is in the driving seat. Something Singapore has to watch is high property prices. Westward, the Gulf region, with jurisdictions such as the DIFC in Dubai and ADGM in Abu Dhabi, has an eye on this business. 

In April I had the pleasure of reporting on a fascinating Monaco conference about how that tiny European jurisdiction intends to keep thriving, and how it stacks up against other jurisdictions (my job does take me to agreeable places, there's no denying). 

My colleague Amanda Cheesley has been tracking the investment opinions of a range of investment and wealth management houses. She's up in Edinburgh as I write these words for an investments meeting. She has written articles about Japan and this story about what BNP Paribas Asset Management thinks about artificial intelligence. Ah, yes – AI. This is a hot topic. Public relations' figures are sending me lots of commentary on the industry's thoughts about this development.

There’s little doubt that AI is going to be a big deal for our sector. So far, the likely trajectory is a bit hazy. We intend to look at AI, and other technology, in a forthcoming research report. 

Interest rate rises in the US, eurozone and UK continue to stir commentary, and we have tracked what economists and wealth managers have to say about this. In some ways, a world of higher interest rates isn’t bad news for banks – they’re making a net interest margin again. Remember, Swiss banks had to live with officially negative rates for about seven years; Japan and Denmark, among others, had periods of such negative rates. I recently reflected on lessons from a brilliant book about why interest rates are so important. There is also our old friend – tax. Our developing series of guest articles includes this item about sports and tax – not always an easy relationship. 

Coming down the line is a set of features about what sort of skills wealth managers need now and are likely to be looking for in the years ahead. I also have more content in the pipeline about how privacy is affected by digital technology and the evolving nature of the so-called “golden visa” market. I’ve interviewed the Investment Migration Council, a pan-industry group, about what is happening with citizenship/residency-by-investment programs around the world. I am also off to Singapore at the end of May for our annual Asia awards program, and to meet up with industry figures. Expect more content from that quarter.

As always, we value suggestions and feedback, so please email me at tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com