Valerie Chou joins the bank as the head of client coverage for the global family office business in Hong Kong, effective 5 December. She joins from the wealth division of US bank Morgan Stanley where she spent the last 15 years, in various senior management roles including co-heading the PWM business for Hong Kong client coverage and co-managing a joint venture between PWM and the institutional securities group, said UBS in an internal memo seen by WealthBriefingAsia.

Chou will report to Amy Lo, head of the Asia-Pacific ultra high net worth businesses.

With 20 years in the industry, Chou is well-versed in bridging the gap between the corporate and private wealth functions, which will play an important part of the new role, said the bank.

Also joining is Linda Kwo. Kwo joins as country team head for one of the Hong Kong country teams, effective 1 December 2011. Her most recent position was managing director at BNP Paribas Wealth Management

She previously worked at Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered and has 30 years experience. She will report to Francis Liu, regional market manager, Hong Kong.


"UBS Wealth Management will continue to hire strategically in growth areas when high-calibre talent becomes available. Since the start of the year, the business in Asia Pacific has made in excess of 450 new hires across Asia Pacific. Our ability to attract and retain talent continues to be a lynchpin of our business platform," said Kathryn Shih, chief executive of UBS Wealth Management, Asia-Pacific.