Exclusive | Swiss private bank UBP plans Hong Kong, Greater Bay Area expansion to satisfy growing wealth-management demand, CEO says
- Over the past five years, Greater China accounts for 75 per cent of UBP’s Asia growth, says Guy de Picciotto
- The bay area’s population of 85 million people and growing middle class, as well as Hong Kong’s efforts to court family offices, bode well, he says
Switzerland’s Union Bancaire Privee (UBP) is planning further expansion in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) after experiencing substantial growth in the area over the last five years despite the pandemic, according to its top boss.
“If you look at the growth profile of UBP over the last five or six years, about 75 per cent of our growth in Asia has come from the Greater China region,” CEO Guy de Picciotto said in an exclusive interview during his first visit to the city in four years.
“Before I came here, everybody told me I would see how Hong Kong has changed,” de Picciotto said. “Fortunately, I have not seen that change. Hong Kong is still full of energy. It is a booming city where every person is busy in doing business.”
UBP sees a bright future for Hong Kong given its position within the Greater Bay Area, which has 85 million people and a growing middle class that will need wealth-management services, de Picciotto added.