Understanding the client

Roland Koeppel, a client advisor for UBS in Buchs (Eastern Switzerland) has a story about the day a client walked into his branch office wanting to buy gold coins. “I asked him why,” says Koeppel. “In Switzerland, these coins are often used as presents for special occasions, given to relatives or by entrepreneurs to their employees. Or they are collected.” This client, however, was interested in gold as an investment. He said he had been watching gold prices develop and he believed the metal was set to rise. At the time, there was looming political and economic uncertainty – and the desire for hard assets made some sense. “There were also some risks to such an investment though – or at least reasons that spoke against it. Investments in gold, for example, do not generate interest returns,” Koeppel remembers telling the client. When talking to him, however, it became clear that the client had thought it over very thoroughly.“Since he was interested in the investment aspect, I advised him to buy bars instead of coins, as they have a lower spread,” Koeppel adds. By contrast, the client’s house bank simply kept trying to talk him out of buying gold coins. The client felt that Roland Koeppel took him and his request more seriously. As a result, he transferred his assets to UBS. What does he make of this story? “We certainly got on well personally, and, with the gold price – he was right – it did rise. But much more importantly, I listened to him and understood what he wanted and why he asked for it, without any bias.”The example shows how thousands of employees with client contact work throughout the firm. Their work has taught them the importance of listening. It’s a skill that is highly valued at UBS, so much that it is institutionalized as the first step in UBS’s client experience.

Understanding a client, however, often means more than simply being aware of his or her business needs. For the past few years, Dino Rinaldi has been leading a team of advisors in Singapore responsible for wealth management in Asia for non-Asian clients. As team leader, he observes closely when members of his team put the firm’s advisory approach to work. “We had for example a wealthy Italian client,” he says, “who came to Singapore to visit a couple of banks. He passed by our office late on a Friday afternoon and wanted to see someone. One of our advisors was able to meet him and present our services.” The client was so delighted with the presentation that he cancelled his Friday evening flight back to Italy and spent the weekend in further discussions with the advisor. During that short period of time, they were able to work out a satisfying solution for him. On the following Monday morning, he opened a large account with UBS. “What was important for the client,” says Rinaldi, “was both the speed with which the advisor reacted, and his ability to provide information in a way and shape that the client was expecting.”

Judd Frank works for UBS in Mission Viejo, California. As a client advisor of 22 years standing, he believes it is important to understand a client’s complete situation before anything else. “Our job is to pay attention to our clients,” he says, “to listen to what they have to say, and understand their needs and goals as well as their risk tolerance.” A recent example was a client who had most of his assets at another firm, but who came to Judd to talk about retirement issues. “After a series of discussions and a look at the portfolio, I realized that not only did the client have a problem because his assets were not very diversified,” says Judd, “but he also did not seem to be aware of this or of other options.” Judd did a financial goal analysis for him to give the client an idea of what he would need to retire on, and an idea of what kind of allocation would be more appropriate. The client was very impressed with Judd’s effort, and discussions are continuing.

For Patrick Rusch, a client advisor in the firm’s Zug office in Switzerland, it is important to act quickly when he sees a client need. “This may either be something the client said outright, or it may be a more subtle signal that you receive,” he says. “Proactivity is very important.” To explain what he means when he uses this buzzword, Rusch points to a client of his, a man with a reputation for exacting standards. After taking over his portfolio, Rusch took it upon himself to regularly review it and keep in contact regarding economic developments. Among other things, Rusch saw that the client was heavily invested in an East European currency. “I sent him one of our research notes regarding this currency on the basis of which he decided to get out of it,” says Rusch. “This turned out to be advantageous for him, and he subsequently transferred the rest of his liquidity to us and we were able to sign a discretionary mandate. For him, what was most important was proactivity – taking our views to him rather than waiting for instructions – followed by the quality of the research we could offer.” Listening, understanding, and providing quality, tailored advice. As these stories show, providing the best possible client experience is an integral part of the business process at UBS.