Winners rationale

UBS’s status as a perennial trailblazer in Taiwan’s domestic wealth management market was further solidified in 2018 through greater enhancements to its platform and offering, widening the gap with its competitors which tend to criticise the local business environment for its restrictive access to global markets and products.

Although the regulatory environment in Taiwan remains restrictive relative to neighbouring offshore centres, UBS has succeeded in upgrading its onshore platform with a product shelf that reaches near-parity with its Hong Kong and Singapore businesses. In addition to its flow solutions, the bank has enhanced its UHNW platform with what it calls ‘Privileged Accessed Clients’ (PAC) — an offering that grants its most sophisticated clients exclusive global opportunities. In 2018, such deals ranged from direct investments in US real estate on Broadway to a Latin American ride-hailing service to access to a Chinese peer-to-peer lending platform.

UBS further distinguished itself by enhancing its platform for greater cross-product, cross-business line, and cross-border capabilities in a market that has often segregated the uses of local and foreign money. The bank set up its ‘One Taiwan’ ambassador office for this purpose and received the blessing from regulators to launch a one-year pilot to conduct referrals to offshore entities.

The bank’s revenue mix for the onshore Taiwan market also remains a point of envy for its competitors, with its mandate business registering penetration levels that are high even by regional offshore standards. Supported by UBS Taiwan’s unique digital advisory platform, the firm’s mandates business has benefitted from scalable AI capabilities built upon an efficient client acquisition model.

All the while, UBS Taiwan’s domestic wealth business continues to experience stable asset growth despite volatile markets causing clients to retreat from investments in the second half of the year.

With an increasingly innovative platform and continued revenue diversification, UBS has proved its unrivalled leadership, not only as a market participant but as an industry pioneer, helping it to firmly secure its dominant position in Taiwan.

UBS is Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Taiwan Domestic for 2018.