James Whittaker

Spear’s Review

James Whittaker joined Deutsche Bank in 2020 as head of UK coverage, and in 2022 he became head of UK wealth management and DB UK CEO. Over the last three years he has helped the firm double its revenue and assets under management by enhancing its UHNW offering. 

Deutsche Bank is known as ‘the big beast of UHNW coverage banking in the UK,’ and Whittaker’s professional experience speaks for itself; he spent 14 years at UBS and was instrumental in growing its UK UHNW business. 

Whittaker began his career at Coutts as a private banker after graduating from the University of Bath in 2004. After decades in the field, he is now one of the region’s most respected financial advisers.

Power List Profile

James Whittaker is Deutsche Bank’s Head of Wealth Management UK and CEO of DB UK Ltd. He joined the company in 2020 with the mandate to scale up Deutsche Bank’s wealth presence in the UK and strengthen its focus on serving family offices, private equity professionals and entrepreneurs.

Under his leadership, the bank has invested in top industry professionals, its platform, and offering to further establish the UK franchise in the ultra-high-net-worth market, with the ability to address clients’ highly complex and geographically diverse needs. Further, he has advanced Deutsche Bank’s engagement with private equity professionals and entrepreneurs, ranging from their wealth and investment approach and liquidity needs to their wealth transfer considerations and succession planning.

Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, James worked at UBS for 14 years, most recently leading the bank’s UK ultra-high net worth division and serving as a member of the UK management committee. He started his career at Coutts.