Overall, UBS Wealth Management had net inflows of around CHF 26.7bn ($26.69bn) in 2018, down about 40% compared to 2017 ($44.8bn), according to the UBS annual financial report for 2018.
The inflows were led by Asia-Pacific, which accounted for CHF 17.3bn of the total. However, they were also down about 40% from last year, when the figure was CHF 28.3bn, according to the previous annual report.
Other regional inflows in 2018 were Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with CHF 10.4bn and Switzerland with CHF 3.2bn.
The Americas had net outflows of CHF 4.1bn.
The number of client advisors in Asia-Pacific were increased to 1,138 last year compared to 1,037 in 2017, the firm said.
Globally, UBS Wealth manages $2.3trn in client assets.
AM inflows down by half
UBS Asset Management’s net inflows plunged more than 50% in 2018 to $32.2bn compared to 2017’s $59.5bn.
Equity funds accounted for the majority of inflows ($20.7bn), followed by money market funds ($7.5bn), multi-asset ($1.9bn), real estate and private markets ($1bn), fixed income ($800m) and hedge funds ($400m).
The asset managers global AUM decreased to $781bn from $796bn,. The report said it was mainly due to negative market performance and negative foreign currency transaction effects.
“2018 was a challenging year for investments with a record low number of asset classes providing a positive annual return. Signs of slowing economic growth and tighter financial conditions led to a sharp drop across asset values, particularly in corporate bonds and equities,” the report said.
