UBS Group AG is seeking to cement its position as top-five player among global limited partners by pooling all of the bank’s private-markets offerings into one unit.
The business, Unified Global Alternatives, will combine the bank’s fund selection of its Global Wealth Management division and its institutional asset management business, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News.
UGA will be led by Johannes Roth and Jerry Pascucci, who will report to the head of Asset Management, Aleksandar Ivanovic, and Yves-Alain Sommerhalder. Sommerhalder is leading a broader project to strengthen UBS’ wealth ties with other business areas, such as the investment bank.
UBS wants to provide a wider offering of alternative funds — everything from buyout shops to hedge funds to real estate — to all of its clients. UBS’ asset management and wealth business together manage $250 billion of invested assets in alternative markets.
The move may be well-timed, as LP firms are cutting down on relationships with distributors and private equity funds and increasingly seeking to have “one-stop shops.” For UBS, it is also an opportunity for collaborations between its asset management and wealth management LPs for co-investments.
Private markets have been booming over the past decade thanks to low interest rates and rising valuations, helping pension funds and institutional investors boost returns they wouldn’t find in public markets.