UBS Sets its Sights on China

The bank saw strong growth in Asia, with record net new money inflows of $16.3 billion in the first quarter of 2019, a $10 billion jump from the year before, where it saw inflows of $6.3 billion in the same period, and just short of the $17.2 billion it brought in over the whole of 2018.

He said hopes his team, under the leadership of wealth management Asia Pacific co-heads Amy Lo and August Hatecke, will soon be able to reach $500 billion. «I would tell them if they are any good, it should be less than two years. That’s how long I would give it myself,» Koh said.

Managing the UBS’ 23,000 employees in the region and maintaining its position as the leading private bank in the region is no easy task, but Koh said his secret is self-belief, energy and purpose.

My purpose, along with my colleagues, has been very clearly articulated. If we don’t do well, people will be unemployed because we manage some of the biggest families that are huge employers around the region. That drives me. It’s not the 50 basis points of loan spread or 75 basis points of investment. That is just part of the process.

Koh, who in October 2018 became the first Singaporean to hold the position of president of UBS Asia Pacific, was previously the bank’s head of wealth management for Asia Pacific and country head Singapore. He joined UBS in 2012 as head of wealth management for Southeast Asia, following stints at Taiwan’s Ta Chong Bank, where he served for four years as president and director, and DBS Banks, where he was managing director and regional head, consumer banking from 2001 to 2008.