Which way? My way.

No two people are exactly the same – financial situations included. When thinking about what’s important to you and your family’s finances in the short and the long term, it’s important to leave no stone unturned. With UBS My Way, clients have a chance to do just that in a new and innovative way. Thousands of them have already worked with their client advisor to design their own portfolio on an iPad, tailored to their needs now and in the future, which is in line with their individual preferences, risk appetite and investment goals.  

While the digital technology behind this next generation portfolio management solution is a key differentiator, the real game-changer is the timely, relevant and actionable investment content provided by our award-winning Chief Investment Office (the CIO).

The CIO – which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2021 – is at the core of UBS’s investment ecosystem, bringing outstanding thought leadership and solutions to private wealth clients around the world. It’s made up of over 800 investment experts, who work in 18 locations and are responsible for investment advice and management for more than USD 3.3 trillion in assets globally¹. The team helps connect content, solutions, and clients by working across the globe 24/7 to identify and communicate investment opportunities, as well as market risks, supporting clients in preserving and growing their wealth. 

“Being in control of your finances means being aware of the options available to you and having the chance to explore them in a simple and convenient way,” said Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele. “That’s what UBS My Way, together with CIO’s industry-leading expertise, brings to clients.” 

Being in control of your finances means being aware of the options available to you.

In 2017, after noticing changes in client behavior and spotting a gap for a modular and customizable mandate solution that gave clients more control of their investment choices, a small core team combined all the necessary skills – including product design, knowledge of the investment process and portfolio construction, IT development and user experience – to create a first-look UBS My Way product.

This same core team was able to take the idea from a start-up approach to a fully scalable product with a huge growth potential relatively quickly, thanks to short review cycles and fast decision-making during the development process. In 2019, UBS My Way was launched as a pilot in just one country, in one language, for one client type – the minimum requirements possible – before first being rolled out as a full product in Switzerland in mid-2020.

Wealth management has always been, and will always be, a people business – and UBS My Way has helped UBS to reimagine the client experience for the people who place their trust in us. By combining the very best of our digital capabilities with over 160 years of wealth management expertise and insights, we’ve moved investing into the twenty-first century.

In the same way that you would scan the aisles at a supermarket to find the best ingredients or scroll through the TV listings to choose the film to suit your mood, UBS My Way gives clients the chance to design their own portfolio on an iPad, choosing from around 60 building blocks, such as green bonds, future of the tech economy, sustainable investing megatrends or Swiss real estate, in line with their individual preferences, risk appetite and investment goals – all at the touch of a button. And new modules are added on a regular basis to reflect the latest investment themes and opportunities.

Using this method to build a portfolio allows clients and their advisors to have meaningful discussions about the client’s financial goals with technology as an enabler which can deepen relationships and trigger conversations about the topics that matter most.

“Everything we do, we do with clients and their goals in mind. UBS My Way fits seamlessly into our clients’ lives so they can plan for and reach their goals in a much more convenient, and frankly enjoyable way,” said Co-President Global Wealth Management & President EMEA Iqbal Khan.

Everything we do, we do with clients and their goals in mind.

UBS My Way reached its two-year goal of USD 1 billion in assets under management just six months after launch and passed the USD 3 billion mark in under a year. By 31 December 2021, the solution had been used by more than 4,500 clients and had close to USD 7 billion in assets under management. And, thanks to regular after-sales communication, including monthly portfolio reporting, over 1,700 portfolio adjustments have been made by clients to reflect what’s going on both in the market and their lives. The UBS My Way solution has also been cited as a success factor in several awards, including the Euromoney World’s Best Wealth Manager 2021 award and the Financial Times PWM Wealth Tech Awards.

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Last year saw huge changes to the way we interact with clients, but they have appreciated the opportunity to engage with us digitally whilst benefiting from our expertise.

As we strive to connect people and ideas, and bring the full UBS investment ecosystem to more and more people in a way that’s personalized and relevant to them, it would seem that My Way is indeed The High Way.

¹ As at 31 December 2021