Lottery winners bet on Queen's bank

Nick Goodway12 April 2012

THE QUEEN'S banker, Coutts, has diluted its blue-blooded client list by attracting about 30% of National Lottery millionaires created in the last two years. The winners have opened Coutts accounts since the bank split its private services into nine divisions, creating one, known as Acquired Wealth, specifically for people with Lottery-style windfalls.

A spokeswoman denied it was in any way a move down market by the bank - part of Royal Bank of Scotland since it took over NatWest.

She said: 'A National Lottery winner needs a very different kind of financial advice and services from, say, an entrepreneur who is buying and selling businesses or a landowner who is seeking to preserve his wealth. Times have changed and there are growing numbers of people who have become millionaires because of the Lottery. Our Acquired Wealth area offers support for people who may not have the financial savvy of professionals and need help when they suddenly come into a lot of money.'

Coutts has more than 70,000 clients, with 23 offices in Britain and 17 overseas. They include not only most of the royal family but also the new rich such as David and Victoria Beckham and Sir Elton John.

Aspirant Coutts customers must be able to show either that they have £500,000 in liquid assets or £5m in less liquid forms such as property or land. But even that is not enough to guarantee entry.

New chief executive Gordon Pell said: 'In order to get a Coutts chequebook you have to be seriously special. You could be exceptionally rich and we might still not want to give you an account.'

Coutts, which launched its first advertising campaign only last year, is among the banks and fund management groups which Camelot selected after a 'beauty parade' as those it would recommend to Lottery winners.

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