UBS Widens Global Family Office Group To Americas

Harriet Davies

22 January 2013

UBS has extended its Global Family Office Group to the Americas, bringing together its investment banking and wealth management services for family office clients.

“Now, for the first time, we are in a position to deliver a truly global and comprehensive 24-hour service to the important family office client segment around the world via our Global Family Office Group,” UBS said this morning in an internal memo from Jürg Zeltner, chief executive wealth management, Andrea Orcel, CEO investment bank, and Bob McCann, CEO UBS Group Americas.

The business unit was created as a joint venture between wealth management and investment banking in January 2011 and was originally launched to the European and APAC markets; it now manages over $50 billion in assets. With the roll-out to the Americas, it gives family office clients quick and global access across UBS’s platforms.

The GFO teams are based in London, New York, Zurich, Geneva, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.

“We are convinced that GFO now offers a unique competitive advantage, allowing us to tap into the growth potential of current and prospective family office clients, gain market share and further strengthen UBS's role as an industry leader in this field,” the memo said.

A number of large banks have moved toward serving family offices through dedicated divisions. In March Northern Trust launched a Global Family and Private Investment Offices group, combining a number of its divisions in the US and EMEA.

A white paper released last year by Optima Group predicted that the UHNW landscape would be dominated by the “enhanced family office” model, as trust, transparency and capital preservation topped wealthy individuals’ wish list from their financial services providers.

The white paper said that large banks were also capitalising on this trend: “It is worth noting that formidable global entities such as HSBC, UBS, Citi and others, are also rapidly creating or expanding ‘family office service groups’ which market investment banking and other services to existing family offices.”

UBS’s Swiss rival, Credit Suisse, also ensures close relations between its private bank and investment bank in order to serve UHNW clients.