Held today and yesterday, the UBS Family Office Summit in Singapore has assembled around 120 global investors who manage the fortunes of the world's wealthiest families to discuss ideas on investment trends, the economic outlook and opportunities for family offices.

The conference is being attended by chief executives and principals of family offices from Asia-Pacific, as well as 20 family offices from Europe, Middle East and Africa and the Americas.

For the last five years the UBS Family Office Summit was held in Switzerland; it will now be held in Singapore additionally. "This is the first time the event is being organized in Asia - a reflection of the growth of wealth creation in the Asian region as well as the growing interest overseas to participate in the opportunities here," said the bank in a statement. A spokeswoman added that the conference may be held in other locations in future too.

Family offices typically manage between US$200 million to billions of a single family’s wealth and are considered the holy grail by many private banks. UBS told WealthBriefingAsia in an exclusive interview this year that it was investing substantially its financial intermediaries business (which includes family offices) in Asia-Pacific, led by Reto Marx, appointed in 2010 to drive the business.

“Our decision to host our flagship UBS Family Office Summit in Asia for the first time acknowledges the exponential growth in wealth creation in the region as well as the increased interest of sophisticated international investors to understand and participate in opportunities here," Kathryn Shih, CEO of UBS Wealth Management Asia-Pacific, said.

The UBS Family Office Summit will feature a series of presentations and panel discussions on topical issues such as family office trends, experiences of Asian family offices, challenges and opportunities of a rising Asia, insights on US and European political and economic outlook, investment themes and asset allocation strategies.

These strategic sessions will transition into optional discussions and small group workshops focusing on identifying and accessing Asian investment opportunities. Speakers with international perspectives will share their current views alongside UBS's senior research and investment specialists, covering US, European and Asian markets.

UBS is aggressively building up in this space. Last year it established its global family office unit to consolidate resources across investment banking, wealth and asset managements businesses for its 250 largest institution-like or professional family office prospects and clients globally.

In Asia-Pacific, UBS aims to serve 25 GFO clients this year, with assets of at least $200 million each.

UBS’s UHNW and family office clients also have exclusive access to its dedicated family services unit which is responsible for the co-ordination of UBS’s expertise in family advisory, wealth planning, philanthropy, and other non-financial services, providing advice on all non-investment related topics to UHNW clients globally and across Asia Pacific.