UBS will find plentiful opportunities in US digital wealth management push.
For today’s digest, UBS Group AG plans to launch a digital wealth management service for mass affluent clients in the U.S. This will present the Swiss bank with a highly promising growth opportunity in a market that is both rapidly expanding and increasingly competitive. The bank will offer “a scalable investment advice model for affluent clients,” CEO Ralph Hamers said during a third-quarter earnings call. CFO Kirt Gardner was quoted by Bloomberg News as saying the move will target clients with assets of between $250,000 and $2 million. Globally, the wealth management market is expected to reach $3.43 trillion by 2030, equivalent to a 10.7% CAGR.
Unsurprisingly, North America accounts for more than half of this, said Firdaus Ibrahim of CFRA Research, citing data from Allied Market Research. Digital wealth management targeted at the mass affluent market is projected to be the fastest-growing segment at an annual rate of 16.8% over the same period. A generational shift in wealth and a host of large-scale, acquisitive competitors are fueling rapid growth in the market. UBS’ vast experience in catering to ultra-high net worth individuals means it is well-positioned to tap into the opportunity. As the world’s largest wealth manager, UBS sees the U.S. as an already important market and it is one that has delivered strong growth in recent years. Its fee-generating assets in the Americas rose to $848 billion at the end of September from just $690 billion a year before.