In a sector where client preferences and needs are as varied as in private banking, the complexity level goes up another gear in certain countries in the Balkans, Greece, Turkey and Israel. We recently talked to Deutsche Bank about this area.

It is a frequently made point that high net worth and ultra-HNW individuals have common characteristics and have their idiosyncrasies that require a bespoke wealth banking approach. The same applies to countries.

In emerging and rapidly changing nations such as Turkey, Israel, Greece, and various Balkan nations, this variety and need for a tailored approach is particularly evident. Deutsche Bank recently spelled out the complexities and opportunities in these countries to WealthBriefing.

“You need a strategy for each country. These are usually growth markets driven largely by entrepreneurs. There is a lot of wealth creation and first-generation wealth,” Sofia Sool (main picture), head of private banking for the Emerging Europe market, told this news service at Deutsche’s London office in the City. “You need to be clear on your value proposition in each market.”

Several of the countries under Sool’s purview have challenges linked to politics, armed conflict and recovery from painful financial episodes. For bankers and advisors, a deep local knowledge, a long-term perspective and a tailored approach is essential.

Sool knows about taking on challenges. She joined Deutsche Bank in July 2020 as the pandemic was raging. She spent more than seven years previously at UBS, as head of Global Family Office clients in London. Her appointment to Deutsche represented a return to the bank; she had been at the firm for almost three years before her time at UBS. From January 2001 to October 2010, she worked at Credit Suisse.

Her Emerging Europe terrain involves the three booking centres of London, Luxembourg and Switzerland with market coverage teams working seamlessly across all three. 

Turkey
WB asked Sool about the bank’s approach to serving private banking clients from Turkey. While wealth management clients from Turkey are served through Deutsche Bank’s international booking and coverage network outside Turkey, the Frankfurt-listed lender’s links to the country date back to the late 19th century. After a period of change, the bank opened a representative office in Turkey in 1954; the acquisition of the US investment bank Bankers Trust in 1999 meant that Deutsche Bank boosted its business base in Turkey. The banking licence was changed in 2004 from that of an “investment” bank to a full service, deposit-taking commercial bank.

“There is an extremely dynamic and entrepreneurial spirit in the country,” Sool said. Business founders and owners are used to handling relatively high inflation rates that have become a feature of Turkey, she said. Business founders, including the younger cohort, like the fact that Deutsche Bank has a long track record in the country. Its investment banking arm, for example, is recognised as an important business, she said.

The clients would like to see a universal bank that can handle commercial business issues and the wealth management aspects at the same time, she said. “Clients are very savvy about capital markets and have a high level of sophistication,” Sool continued. “They are open to weekly conversations and like a bank that’s well versed about their locality.”

According to the 2025 edition of the UBS Global Wealth Report, Turkey’s total number of dollar millionaires rose by 8.4 per cent in 2024 on a year ago, taking the total to nearly 68,000. This was the fastest pace among 56 countries that the bank analysed. Figures from Knight Frank in 2026 showed that the UHNW population grew 93.6 per cent from 2021 to 2026 to 4,208 people with more than $30 million. That number is expected to grow another 13.4 per cent in the next five years.

Rising wealth explains why wealth management has traction. There is a small, but increasingly visible family offices market in Turkey, for example, as reported by WealthBriefing here.  

There are several rich families in the country, such as the Koç and Sabanci dynasties, who are involved in areas such as property, energy, retail and financial services.

Israel
Another country under Sool’s domain is Israel, which tends to garner headlines that differ from the usual concerns of banking and wealth management. Even so, with its famously vigorous IT and venture capital sectors, for example, Israel is an important market. The nation had about 195,000 millionaires at the end of 2025 (source: UBS), rising by 4.7 per cent year-on-year, a cohort that makes up 3.2 per cent of adults. This year, Knight Frank said Israel’s UHNW population grew 71.4 per cent in the past five years to 5,462 in 2026. It is expected to grow by 26.1 per cent in the next five.

Deutsche Bank has a senior team of wealth managers in Tel Aviv which is part of a large and active office in the country.

“This is a market that expects you to understand local dynamics and expects long-term commitment and flexibility,” Sool said. Technology entrepreneurs want, for example, early engagement by a bank as they build their businesses, she continued. 

Greece
As for Greece, to take a third of the countries in the emerging Europe bracket, clients require both help with their business’s affairs and their personal and family wealth, which includes the family offices area, she said.

One marker of the German bank’s ambitions is that last November, it set up dedicated Greek market coverage and it hired Konstadinos Hatzinikolis as head of Private Bank Greece, based in Luxembourg. The team has since grown with dedicated relationship managers and investment coverage.

Greece had about 82,000 millionaires in 2025, after adding 2,762 during the year, a 3.5 per cent rise (source: UBS). The UHNW population has grown by 74 per cent in the past five years (from 523 to 910), Knight Frank said, and is expected to grow another 25.3 per cent in the next five years. 

“The way that most [Greek] families manage their wealth is to keep a lot of liquidity inside the corporate perimeter, such as on the treasury side in a holding company. This means they need risk and liquidity management services, and corporate services. The banking landscape has evolved, and we are seeing a niche area for ourselves with our integrated private, corporate and investment banking service, or a “Hausbank” approach as we call it.”

Among other senior Deutsche Bank figures interviewed by WealthBriefing is Marco Pagliara, head of emerging markets, who talked about strategy and developments in February this year.