Wealth management is a comprehensive financial advisory service covering investments, tax planning, asset protection and succession planning within a single tailored approach. In Spain, the private banking sector passed one trillion euros in assets under management for the first time in 2025. With an independent adviser in Mallorca, the entry threshold can start from €200,000–300,000, well below the million euros demanded by traditional private banking.

Wealth management. The term sounds like something reserved for people with private jets and Swiss accounts. And yet what lies behind it is rather simpler to grasp: and closer to reach than most people believe.

The real question is a different one. Not what wealth management is in theory, but how it differs from what your bank offers you. And there the answer does matter, because the difference can be worth thousands of euros a year.

What Is Wealth Management and How Does It Differ from Going to Your Bank?

Wealth management — integrated asset management — treats your money as a whole, not as a set of separate products. A bank sells you deposits, funds from its own management company and insurance from its own catalogue. A wealth manager first analyses what you have, what you want to achieve and over what timeframe, then builds a strategy that may combine funds from different providers, savings insurance, tax planning and succession protection.

The difference is one of approach: the bank sells. The wealth manager advises.

In practice, asset management in Mallorca brings together four broad areas:

1. Investment management: a portfolio matched to the client’s risk profile and time horizon.
2. Tax planning: optimising income tax, wealth tax and inheritance tax in the Balearic Islands.
3. Asset protection: insurance and structures that shield assets against the unexpected.
4. Succession planning: how to pass wealth on to heirs at the lowest possible tax cost.

The CNMV regulates financial advisory services in Spain. Any professional providing wealth management must be registered as an investment services firm or as a tied agent of an authorised institution.

From What Level of Wealth Does Wealth Management Make Sense in Mallorca?

There is no universal figure, but the market offers clear reference points. The private banking arms of large institutions such as Santander or CaixaBank start from €300,000–500,000 in financial assets. International managers like UBS or Pictet work from one million euros upwards. In 2025 the sector accumulated more than 1.07 trillion euros under management, growing 18% year on year according to the XII Private Banking Ranking by FundsPeople.

Does that mean €150,000 is not worth managing? Not necessarily. With an independent financial adviser in Mallorca the threshold is lower, because the model does not carry the cost structure of a private bank. What matters is that your wealth is complex enough for advice to generate more value than it costs.

And that complexity arrives sooner than one imagines: an inheritance received, self-employed income mixed with personal assets, a second home in Mallorca, pension plans scattered across several banks, insurance policies that no longer fit.

What Does a Good Wealth Manager Actually Do?

A genuine wealth management service is not a list of products. It is a continuous process. This is how it works in practice:

1. Analysis of the starting point: a full inventory of your wealth (assets, debts, insurance, pension plans, property).
2. Clarifying objectives: what you want to achieve. A comfortable retirement, leaving wealth to your children, buying a second home, retiring in Mallorca as a foreigner.
3. Designing the strategy: investment portfolio, tax strategy and asset protection adapted to your stage of life.
4. Regular review: annual check-ins, or whenever your personal situation or the market context changes.
5. Coordination with other professionals: notaries, tax advisers, lawyers specialising in inheritance.

Our article on where Spanish wealth is invested gives a good indication of the most common investment vehicles among those who have already built up assets. Spoiler: investment funds, savings insurance and property take the lion’s share.

How Much Does Wealth Management Cost and How Is It Charged?

This is the part banks would rather not advertise. There are three fee models:

Implicit commission (the most common in banking): the adviser does not charge you directly, but receives retrocessions from fund managers for placing you in their products. You pay through higher management fees embedded in the product itself.

Explicit fee (registered independent advisers): the adviser charges a direct fee — a percentage of assets under management, typically between 0.5% and 1% a year — and receives no retrocessions. This removes the conflict of interest.

Hybrid model: a combination of the two above.

On a portfolio of €500,000, a 0.75% fee amounts to €3,750 a year. If that advice improves net returns by 1.5%, the difference comfortably exceeds the cost of the service. Transparency on fees is mandatory under the MiFID II rules in force in Spain.

Independent Wealth Management vs Private Banking: the Difference Nobody Explains

When your private banking manager recommends a fund, that fund almost always belongs to the bank’s own management company or to one it has a commercial agreement with. It is not necessarily the best fund for your profile. It is the one that generates the most retrocessions for the institution.

An independent wealth adviser has access to products from multiple providers without commercial dependence on any of them. They can recommend a low-cost index fund, a savings policy from AXA or a diversified portfolio from Mapfre if that is what best fits your situation, without their remuneration depending on the choice.

Family wealth planning in Mallorca is where the difference shows most clearly: banks rarely build inheritance taxation, asset protection or generational handover into their proposal. An independent adviser does.

How Does Wealth Management Work in Mallorca for Residents and Expatriates?

Mallorca has particularities that bear directly on wealth management. The Balearic Islands have their own inheritance tax rules — with reductions for direct heirs — their own income tax reliefs and their own wealth tax scale. For foreign residents there is the added layer of international taxation: double taxation treaties, the Beckham regime for new residents, and how income is taxed in the country of origin.

Our article on wealth management in Mallorca for foreigners sets out this casuistry in detail for those living on the island without Spanish nationality.

Wealth management in Mallorca is not the same as in Madrid. The property market is different, the client profile is different and the tax implications are different. Working with an adviser who knows the territory is the difference between a generic strategy and one that genuinely works in the Balearics.

Let’s Talk about Your Wealth, with No Obligation

If your wealth is starting to need structure — scattered assets, an inheritance received, a business and personal savings that are not coordinated, a second home, or plans for the future with no common thread — a first conversation with a wealth adviser can give you more clarity than months of searching for answers on your own.

José Sellés has spent more than ten years helping families and professionals in Mallorca to organise, protect and grow their wealth. More than 700 clients. A 5.0 rating on Google. First consultation free and without obligation. Get in touch on +34 660 845 921 or through the contact page.

This content is for general guidance and does not replace personalised financial advice.