The world's ultra-rich still prefer to park their millions in Switzerland, a study showed on Monday, with banks in the country holding just under a third of the world's private wealth deposited abroad.

Switzerland held 28 per cent of the global amount of private wealth held abroad - so-called off-shore capital - which totalled $US5.9 trillion ($A7.53 trillion) at the end of 2005, a study by the Swiss Bankers Association showed.

Hong Kong and Singapore, two cities flourishing on the back of the rapidly rising number of wealthy clients in Asia, still held only 4 and 3 per cent of global off-shore wealth respectively, the study also said.

Including domestic and institutional money, the total amount of assets under management in Switzerland stood at 6.9 trillion Swiss francs ($US5,538 billion) ($A7.07 trillion) at the end of 2005, according to a survey of the 200 largest banks in the country, the SBA said

Switzerland is home to UBS, the world's largest wealth manager and to Credit Suisse, which also ranks in the top 10, with wealthy clients benefiting from the country's strict laws on banking secrecy.

Gross margins had been stable despite increasing competition, the study also showed, typically between 80 and 120 basis points on assets under management. But the group warned the good times might not last for ever.

"Wealth managers, particularly smaller players, are exposed to periodic market downturns translating into falling asset-based revenues and sticky overhead costs," the group said.

Switzerland is such an attractive centre for private banking, that a spate of international banks have set up their wealth management operations from the country, pumping more money into the industry and hiring extra staff.

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