As of end-2016, client assets sourced from Asia-Pacific, Europe and Switzerland stood at CHF 1.16trn ($1.15trn), which is 3% higher than 2015’s CHF 1.12trn, according to the UBS 2016 annual report.
Net new money for the full year 2016 reached CHF 28.8bn, with the majority coming from Asia-Pacific.
|
Net new money by region (in CHF bn) |
||
|
|
Net new money |
Net new money growth (%) |
|
Asia-Pacific |
20.8 |
7.60% |
|
Europe |
8.1 |
2.40% |
|
Switzerland |
5 |
2.90% |
|
Emerging markets |
-6.2 |
-4% |
Source: UBS. Figures to end-2016
Inflows from Asia-Pacific were even bigger than the figure for Americas, which was around $15.4bn (CHF 15.5bn), according to the report.
According to UBS, net new money inflows in the recent years have come predominantly from Asia-Pacific clients and in the global ultra-high-net-worth segment.
The firm defines the UHNW clients as those with investable assets of more than CHF50m, while HNW clients are those with investable assets of between CHF2m and CHF50m, according to the report. Affluent clients are those with investable assets between CHF 250,000 and CHF 2m.
Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing-regions in terms of wealth, with an estimated annual market growth rate of 14% for the HNW segment and 16% for the UNHW segment, the report said, citing data from Boston Consulting Group’s 2016 wealth report.
Within the region, the firm has a focus on Hong Kong, Singapore and China, as well as Japan and Taiwan, according to the report.
Private bank rivals
UBS said it considers Credit Suisse, HSBC and Citigroup as its main competitors.
Credit Suisse’s private banking business, which includes the wealth management unit, also reported inflows from Asia-Pacific. For the full year 2016, it attracted net new assets of CHF14.6bn from the region, reflecting inflows primarily from Greater China, Australia and Southeast Asia, as reported.
However, those net new assets are lower compared to 2015’s CHF17.8bn of inflows.
HSBC’s private banking business also had net new money last year from Hong Kong, as well as in the UK and Channel Islands, according to its annual report, which did not give a breakdown of the inflows by geography. However, there was negative net new money of $17bn globally, it said.
