UBS Seeking Both Assets and Advisers in Ultra-High Net Worth Market

By the end of 2010, UBS, the world's largest money manager, plans to have $250 billion in ultra-high net worth client assets under management, and about 400 advisers serving those clients.

That is a significant increase over the $110 billion under management today, with only 140 advisers serving the ultra-high net worth clients, according to a Reuters report last week. Although the firm has 8,000 advisers throughout the country, only about 100 of those will undergo training to become part of the expected 400 ultra-high net worth advisers; the report said the rest of the group will come from rival advisory firms.

Reuters quoted John Straus, head of UBS private wealth management in the United States, as saying that the company expects to continue to grow market share from competitors and plans to be the biggest ultra-high net worth wealth manager by 2015.

UBS currently only has one office in New York City that is dedicated to serving accounts with over $10 million, opened last year. However, the firm has plans to open five more such offices during the year, in Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, and Stamford, Connecticut, according to the Reuters article.

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