Wealth Management International & Switzerland

Business

Wealth management solutions are delivered via this business unit's global branch network and through financial intermediaries. In addition to the specific wealth management products and services outlined below, clients benefit from UBS's entire range of resources, from asset management to estate planning and corporate finance advice. An open product platform gives clients access to a wide array of pre-screened, top-quality products from third-party providers that complement UBS's own product lines. On 31 December 2008, invested assets were CHF 870 billion.

Organizational structure

Throughout 2008, until the recent reorganization, this business unit comprised the following areas: Asia Pacific; Latin America, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Africa; North, East and Central Europe; and Switzerland. The extensive wealth management branch network consisted of 5,755 client advisors, around 110 offices in Switzerland and more than 100 offices worldwide.

Competitors

Major competitors of this business unit include globally active wealth managers, such as the wealth management operations of Credit Suisse, HSBC and Citigroup. The business unit also competes with private banks that operate mainly within their respective domestic markets, such as Coutts in the UK, Deutsche Bank AG and Sal. Oppenheim in Germany, Unicredit in Italy, and Swiss banks focused on international clients (such as Julius Baer and Pictet).

Clients and markets

The following client segments are offered sophisticated products and services specifically designed to address their needs: international core affluent clients with investable assets of CHF 250,000 to CHF 2 million; high net worth clients with investable assets of up to CHF 5 million; private wealth management clients with investable assets of CHF 5 million to CHF 50 million; and ultra-high net worth clients with investable assets of more than CHF 50 million. The business unit also provides financial intermediaries, both inside and outside Switzerland, with UBS's wealth management solutions, products and services.

Products and services

The business unit offers expert financial advice to support clients throughout the different stages of their lives. Wealth planning advice is also given on topics such as the funding of education, gift giving, inheritance and succession. Corporate finance advice is offered to support clients in the process of disposing of corporate assets. Clients can also trade a full range of financial instruments, from single securities, such as equities and bonds, to structured products and alternative investments. The business unit also fulfills the basic banking needs of private clients with a wide variety of products, ranging from cash accounts and savings accounts to credit cards, mortgages and securities-backed lending.

By aggregating private investment flows into institutional-size flows, the business unit is in a position to offer its private clients access to investments that would otherwise only be available to institutional clients. Expertise is sourced either from within UBS or from the external market.

Both discretionary and non-discretionary mandates are offered. Clients who opt for a discretionary mandate delegate the management of their assets, including investment decisions, to a team of professional portfolio managers who work according to an agreed investment strategy. Clients who prefer to be actively involved in the management of their assets can choose a non-discretionary mandate, where investment professionals provide analysis and monitoring of portfolios, together with tailor-made proposals to support investment decisions.