UBS targets Asia’s emerging wealth with new hires
(4 May 2017 – Hong Kong) UBS Group has revealed plans to hire around 100 wealth management client advisors over the next two years in Hong Kong to increase its market share of Asia’s fast-growing mid-tier millionaire segment.
"For us, the sweet spot is high-net-worth clients with investable assets of between US$2 million and US$50 million," Jean-Claude Humair, regional market manager for Hong Kong at UBS said.
"We see tremendous untapped opportunity in the entrepreneurs segment in Hong Kong," he said. "The plan is to hire 50 client advisors in Hong Kong every year for the next two years to cater for these HNWIs (high-net-worth individuals)."
Recent research from Asian Private Banker suggests UBS is the largest private bank in the region with US$286 billion worth of assets under management, followed by Citigroup and Credit Suisse.
During the first quarter, a rebound in markets trading generated record wealth management revenues and profit before tax at the Swiss bank in Asia-Pacific, which has emerged as a key battleground for global wealth managers.
UBS is shifting focus because the mid-segment is growing faster than the top-tier, or the ultra-high-net worth segment, which the bank classifies as individuals with more than US$50 million in investable wealth.
The HNW business offers a better return on assets than that offered by the ultra-rich segment, Humair said. The bank already covered three out of five billionaires in the region and almost 90 percent in Hong Kong, he added.
Singapore based DBS has increased market share through acquisitions – most recently through that of Australian bank ANZ’s wealth unit. The lender reported record first-quarter profit for its wealth management business.
"I do believe we continue to gain share," DBS Group CEO Piyush Gupta said.
"It's mostly from smaller players. I don't think we are gaining market share against UBS, for example. UBS continues to grow as fast, if not faster than we do."
Asia’s HNWIs continue to shift their preference for private banks and financial advisers from self-managed funds according to East & Partners Asia. The firm’s Asian Wealth Index, which interviews HNWIs from the top 1000 institutions across Asia (ex Japan), has found that self-managed wealth has declined from a high of 70 percent in May 2013 to around 45 percent.
Additionally, HNWIs are shifting their asset allocations according to the report. While property investments has continually decreased over the last two years, alternative asset classes show the largest increase over the same period.
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