UBS Group is reiterating its commitment to the Asia-Pacific region and particularly to China, as the bank still sees it as a key driver for growth, according to chief executive officer Sergio Ermotti.
“The two engines of growth for us which are going to deliver superior prospects are still the US and Asia,” Ermotti said at the Bank of America CEO Conference in London on Tuesday (Sep 24). “The growth will be less linear in Asia, which is probably important in absolute terms but wealth creation and the demographic trends are really supporting” the business, Ermotti added.
UBS is the biggest wealth manager in the region with over 1,000 client advisers. The Swiss bank has recently relocated its co-head of global wealth management, Iqbal Khan, to Hong Kong, underlining the region’s importance even amid a prolonged downturn in the Chinese economy.
In the second quarter of this year, UBS posted an increase in revenue in all of its 13 markets in Asia-Pacific. The bank’s key wealth management division attracted US$8.2 billion of net new assets during that period, second only to Switzerland.
“We see a lot of scope to continue to invest in a very focused way in our Asia businesses including China, so we remain extremely supportive of that,” Ermotti said.
UBS is also open to exploring partnership options to enable it to boost its wealth management offering in India, Ermotti said earlier this month. BLOOMBERG
