Given UBS’s 163-year history, one might be excused for thinking the private bank and wealth manager is inevitably beholden to tradition. But the global banking behemoth, which manages $6 trillion in assets, operates in more than 50 markets globally and has 110,000 employees representing 159 nationalities, isn’t letting itself be held back by its legacy or its size.
‘For us at UBS, innovation is truly a differentiator,’ says Meltem Cagan, who leads the UK international team at UBS Global Wealth Management. Indeed, the bank’s My Way digital investment platform, which was rolled out as a small pilot in 2019 and now has over $20 billion invested, allows clients to personalise their discretionary portfolios beyond traditional mandates, providing transparency and performance insights.
‘It gives clients the tools to choose a wide range of scenarios, strategies and teams, and then brings them into a portfolio context,’ Cagan explains. ‘It’s more personal and more flexible, which is an innovation that makes us stand out. Clients can also run simulations with their adviser, and see the impact of it in their portfolio.’
That said, the bank isn’t forgoing personalised service or forgetting the importance of adviser-client relationships. ‘Digital enhancements are very much required, not only in our industry but in every industry. But the personal relationships are critical,’ Cagan says. ‘While AI and other digital tools clearly increase efficiency, everything starts with strong relationships, deep trust and meaningful insight.’
Clients of the bank don’t only come to UBS for its investment solutions. ‘When it comes to private banking, the first topic that comes to mind is investments,’ Cagan says. ‘But there are other parts of wealth management: asset protection, family governance, art advisory, philanthropy. As you know, we are the largest global wealth manager, and this gives us not only scale, but really in-depth knowledge about any topic that you can think of. Having that very extensive palette is super powerful for bankers and myself.’
[See also: UBS Billionaire Ambitions report – Billionaire wealth and inheritance hit record highs]
UBS is also adapting in line with the evolution of families and family wealth, including the emergence of younger generations as wealth owners.
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‘The younger generation has different needs than the older generation,’ Cagan says. ‘We are starting to see the transition of wealth – we’ve all read about the generational wealth transfer – and the younger generation has different values. They want their wealth to achieve different things. So we see more interest in sustainable ideas, and in philanthropy. Ten years ago, we didn’t talk about these that often, but today it’s a very important topic of the conversation.’
[This feature first appeared in Spear’s Magazine issue 98. Click here to subscribe]
