Winners rationale

UBS may rank as the region’s largest private bank by book size, but its nuanced approach to servicing a vast and demanding Asian HNW population sets the Swiss major apart and shows the way forward for an industry facing pressure to demonstrate inherent value. And this prowess was especially evident in 2018 — a year when investors struggled amid volatile markets and, as such, required constant hand-holding, timely analysis and advice, transparency, and, of course, quality ideas.

Indeed, it is under such conditions that UBS, and its ‘Total Wealth’ approach to servicing a diverse HNW base, shines brightest. Rather than focusing solely on clients’ investment needs, UBS promulgates a holistic outcome-driven approach to advising beyond investments and across life stages, centring on clients’ needs around liquidity, longevity, and legacy. In its relative infancy in Asia, this ‘3 Ls’ concept is already having a positive impact on client satisfaction and, in turn, improving financial metrics on a per-client basis.

It also dovetails nicely with UBS’s consistent messaging to HNW clients about the importance of thinking about risk-adjusted returns and the benefits of being aligned with the bank’s house view.

Not only does UBS lead its universal peers in terms of DPM penetration and mandate breadth and depth, in 2018, its upgraded contractual advisory offering, UBS Advice, saw significant inflows, signalling a major wind change in the investment habits of Asia’s HNWIs. Special mention must also be made of UBS’s flagship 100% sustainable cross-asset portfolio solution — a world first — which not only took the sustainability conversation to a new level but attracted healthy inflows in a region where ESG investing remains in its infancy.

Clients also responded positively to UBS’s ‘Volatility Is Back’ campaign — an example of the prescient guidance the bank provides to its HNW client base — which looked towards UBS’s leading range of alternative solutions, including exclusive hedge fund and private market strategies, to mitigate market volatility. And throughout the year, clients were furnished with round-the-clock investment analysis on market movements by drawing on the expertise of over 200 investment specialists to deliver portfolio-specific advice within hours of an event.

Meanwhile, UBS is making significant strides in configuring its overall offering to emerging trends in Asia’s HNW population. It has identified three key client segments — entrepreneurs, women, and millennials — and, in 2018, dedicated resources to upskilling client advisors to engage each segment with tailored offerings, including bespoke events and targeted research.

Such is the composition of UBS’s HNW-specific P&L in Asia that when markets conspire, as they did in 2018, the business enjoys significant buffers in terms of robust recurring and net interest income. At the same time, the bank continued to gather assets, with HNW-specific NNA growing 5% on an annualised basis as of 3Q18.

Not one to take things for granted, however, UBS impressed the Judging Panel with its willingness to innovate and lead the conversation — both to the benefit of the business and its HNW clients in Asia.

UBS is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – HNW Services for 2018.