(February 23 – 13:20 ET) – The Financial Times is reporting that Swiss banking giant, UBS, is targeting Europe’s wealthiest individuals, foregoing “high net worth clients” in its wealth management strategy.

FT says UBS plans to deploy 1,500 private client advisers over the next five years targeted at Europe’s 2 million wealthiest individuals, those with at least US$500,000 in investable assets. UBS estimates that this market currently accounts for about 35% of investable European wealth. It expects this total market to grow to about US$33.2 trillion by 2005, with 43% of that controlled by its target market.

UBS plans to focus its private banking operations in Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain. Last November, it paid US$12.4 billion for U.S. retail firm PaineWebber, in an effort to secure a global private wealth capability.

Luqman Arnold, UBS’s chief executive, is saying that his company has no interest in the “mass affluent” market, noting that it is “incredibly overcrowded” and that it doesn’t have a competitive advantage in that area. “If you are an insurance company or a retail bank, it might make sense. But not for UBS.”
-IE Staff