UBS Urges Ultra High Net Worth Families to Develop Strategic Plan for Transfer of Wealth
May 1, 2017 by UBS
ZURICH & LONDON, May 1, 2017 /BusinessWire/ — UBS, the world’s largest wealth manager, today announces the launch of the Family Office Compass, a strategic toolkit to help ultra high net worth families flourish across generations.
The Family Office Compass addresses one of the key findings of the Global Family Office Report 2016: Nearly 70 percent of family offices expect a generational transition within the next 15 years, yet just 37 percent of them believe that the next generation want to play a more prominent role in managing their family’s affairs.
This reluctance is often not due to a lack of interest or aptitude, but rather an inability to identify ways to participate that suit their personal interests and life trajectories. For many families, placing trust in potential successors can be a challenge. Family offices can find it equally demanding to maintain relevance with the younger generation. The Family Office Compass is designed to help overcome these potential obstacles, so that generational transition is a success and family wealth continues to grow multi-generationally.
The Family Office Compass, developed in conjunction with the Cambridge Institute for Family Enterprise, not only guides families in how to set up a state-of-the-art family office, but also offers them a perspective on the strategic role of a family office beyond traditional and short-term wealth management. It demonstrates how a family office can guide the family from generation to generation, ensuring that members stay unified and preserve and grow its wealth.
New Research
Meanwhile, new research by Campden Wealth shows that the global population of single family offices (SFOs) today is 5,300. Over 75 percent of these are located in either Europe or North America, while another 17 percent are in Asia Pacific and over 8 percent in emerging markets. These single family offices cater to individuals with USD100 million or more in investable assets.
According to Campden’s estimates, 740 family offices globally are owned by ultra high net worth individuals with assets under management of USD1 billion or more in investable wealth. Of these, 30 percent are based in Europe, 36 percent in North America, 24 percent in Asia Pacific and 10 percent in emerging markets. The UBS/PwC Billionaires Report (2016) found that there are 1,397 billionaires across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Based on this number and our estimate of billionaire family offices per region, we can calculate that 65 percent of European billionaires have a family office, compared with 50 percent of those based in North America and 34 percent in Asia Pacific.
John Mathews, Head of Private Wealth Management and Ultra High Net Worth, UBS, Wealth Management Americas said: “It is crucial for families wanting to create lasting financial success to identify their driving purpose and to formulate an overall family strategy. Clarity of purpose for the family, and in turn, the family office leads to improved performance of the family office over time and increased usefulness to the family. This compass offers us a detailed road map for a family office to succeed and survive over generations.”
About UBS
UBS is committed to providing private, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland, with superior financial advice and solutions, while generating attractive and sustainable returns for shareholders. Its strategy centers on its Wealth Management and Wealth Management Americas businesses and its leading universal bank in Switzerland, complemented by its Asset Management business and its Investment Bank. These businesses share three key characteristics: they benefit from a strong competitive position in their targeted markets, are capital-efficient, and offer a superior structural growth and profitability outlook. UBS’s strategy builds on the strengths of all of its businesses and focuses its efforts on areas in which it excels, while seeking to capitalize on the compelling growth prospects in the businesses and regions in which it operates. Capital strength is the foundation of its success.
Wealthy clients seek professionals who understand their unique challenges, passions and ambitions. Due to UBS’s long experience of working with the most sophisticated ultra high net worth clients globally, we have developed a unique understanding of their mindset, motivations and core values. We join forces with them to create bespoke solutions which are bold, innovative and tailored precisely to their individual needs. The four dimensions of Great Wealth – business, investments, passion, and legacy – form the basis on which we open a dialogue and begin a partnership with our clients across generations for generations, so that Great Wealth endures.
About UBS Wealth Management Americas
Wealth Management Americas is one of the leading wealth managers in the Americas in terms of financial advisor productivity and invested assets. Its business includes UBS’s domestic US and Canadian wealth management businesses, as well as international business booked in the US. It provides a fully integrated set of wealth management solutions designed to address the needs of ultra high net worth and high net worth clients.
