Wealth Management USA

PACE drives strong growth in fee-based accounts

Our wide range of fee-based accounts continues to experience strong growth and increasing client demand. Over the last eighteen months, among our most popular and fastest growing has been PACE (Personalized Asset Consulting and Evaluation) which now has over USD 17 billion in invested assets. PACE assists financial advisors and their clients to navigate through the thousands of available mutual funds to create a customized diversified portfolio and asset allocation mix matching an agreed investment profile.

It offers a process that begins with client profiling and risk assessment, setting the ground for a suitable asset allocation solution that may comprise a custom-built portfolio of no-load and load-waived mutual funds. PACE is suitable for all levels of investment and we have experienced a growing number of initial investments of USD 1 million and more.

Almost three-quarters of our financial advisors have a client invested in PACE, and flows of client assets are at an alltime high. Because of our success, we have been ranked by an independent ratings agency as the US industry leader in fee-based mutual fund consulting.

New dual-card program

In mid-April, we announced a new dual-card program with consolidated rewards that, starting in fourth quarter 2005, will give our clients access to charge card, credit card and ATM services. The program will be provided by Juniper Bank, a member of the Barclays Group, who will issue UBS branded American Express charge cards and Visa Signature credit cards to participating clients.