UBS Group AG aims to grow its wealth and asset management business in China, despite the slowing economy and dearth of deals that has weighed on some Wall Street and European lenders in the country.
China is a key strategic market and a place where “we want to do more,” Eugene Qian, China country head for UBS, told Bloomberg TV in an interview Monday on the sidelines of the bank’s Greater China Conference in Shanghai. “Particularly, we want to expand the onshore wealth and asset management platforms.”
Qian's comments come after Credit Suisse last year dismissed its entire wealth management team in China as UBS decided not to take on the staff after the firms merged, Bloomberg has reported. U.S. and European banks are “ring-fencing” operations in China as they try to navigate heightened tensions between the world’s two largest economies and tighter regulations.
UBS last year signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. to serve its global and onshore clients, he said. The deal is part of a multidecade effort to grow its presence, Qian said.
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“In China, it takes years to develop where we are,” he said. “It took us over three decades.”
The company has also made “good progress” in consolidating the Credit Suisse operations, leaving it well-positioned to capture future opportunities, Qian said.
UBS, which has yet to merge Credit Suisse’s entities in China, needs to sell the securities venture because it already controls one in the country and can’t hold two licenses for the same business. UBS is discussing options with Chinese regulators for Credit Suisse’s onshore securities business, Qian said.