(12 August 2015 – Switzerland) Swiss banks have their eye on Asia’s super rich as domestic earnings are outpaced by the fast-growing region.
UBS is leading international banks as the biggest wealth manager by assets globally and in the Asia Pacific.
For the 2014 year, UBS managed US$272 billion (A$370 billion) in the Asia Pacific region, according to Asian Private Banker magazine.
Credit Suisse and Citi’s private bank were slightly lower with assets of US$154 billion and US$255 billion respectively.
UBS head of wealth management in Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific, Edmund Koh believes the region will contribute at least one third of UBS’s private bank profits by 2017, compare to 30 percent at present.
The company currently has 1200 relationship mangers, twice as many bankers in Asia compared to other wealth managers.
At the start of August, Credit Suisse indicated it would focus on the Asia Pacific’s growing population of entrepreneurs.