Swiss bank ready to catch GBA wave

(From L to R) Fu Lihua, director of China Securities Regulatory Commission Shenzhen Office's institutional department II, Andy Ho, general manager of UBS Fund Distribution (Shenzhen) Co., Jean Philippe Praz, consul general of Switzerland in Guangzhou, Wen Ping, deputy director of Qianhai administration bureau, Eugene Qian, head of UBS' China division and chairman of UBS Securities, and Amy Lo (online), co-head of UBS' wealth management Asia-Pacific division and head and chief executive of UBS' Hong Kong branch, launches a digital wealth management platform called "WE.UBS”at a ceremony in Shenzhen yesterday. Liu Minxia

UBS Fund Distribution (Shenzhen) Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss bank UBS AG, launched a digital platform offering wealth management services to high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) at a ceremony yesterday in Shenzhen, seizing the opportunities brought about by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Called “WE.UBS,” the platform is designed as an innovative, interactive and digital service model that combines UBS’s 160 years of expertise in wealth management with the latest technologies like big data. It is the first digital wealth management platform in the Asia-Pacific region under UBS and the first digital wealth management platform launched by an overseas wealth management company in China, according to Andy Ho, general manager of UBS Fund Distribution (Shenzhen) Co.

Registered in Qianhai in September last year, UBS Fund Distribution (Shenzhen) Co. was the first internationally renowned wealth management company to settle in the free trade zone.

“Known as a city of innovation, Shenzhen is home to several world-leading tech companies. Meanwhile, the city is aiming to enhance its status as a financial center by building itself into a wealth management center. It is a place where technological innovation and wealth management services converge and that’s why we decided to root and grow ourselves here,” Eugene Qian, head of UBS’ China division and chairman of UBS Securities, said at the ceremony.

With the financial sector as a pillar industry, Shenzhen ranked ninth among global financial center cities, according to the latest Global Financial Centers Index report released earlier this month, according to He Jie, director of the Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau.

Shenzhen’s financial sector, which employs 3% of the city’s workforce, contributes to one-sixth of the city’s GDP and nearly one-fourth of the city’s tax revenue, He said. In January, Shenzhen unveiled its financial sector’s 14th Five-Year Plan, outlining strategic goals including becoming wealth management and financial technology centers, He said.

Shenzhen possesses the strength and foundation to further develop wealth management. At the end of last year, assets being managed by the city’s wealth management institutions reached 25 trillion yuan (US$3.48 trillion), accounting for 20% of the country’s total, according to He.

Recognizing Shenzhen as the engine of the GBA and the GBA as one of the fastest-growing regions in China, UBS is also banking on more opportunities presented by the GBA’s development and the continuous opening up of China’s financial sector.

UBS found that the number of Chinese HNWIs will surpass 56 million in 2022, with a significant proportion of them living in the GBA. Amy Lo, co-head of UBS’ wealth management Asia-Pacific division and head and chief executive of UBS’ Hong Kong branch, cited the latest report from the Private Wealth Management Association of Hong Kong, saying that mainland investors’ assets under the management of Hong Kong financial institutions will rise by 12 percentage points to 50% of the total within the next five years, with a majority coming from the GBA.

“Following our launch in Shenzhen, we will focus on clients in the GBA before branching out to other cities,” Lo sad at the ceremony.