REPORTERNET.COM

UBS chairman Kasper Villiger today launched the Swiss bank's new UBS Wealth Management Investment House at its branch in Tel Aviv. The unit will offer clients domestic and international investment management under a single roof.

Villiger said, "We understand that growth will come from Asia and emerging markets, because growth in Europe is limited. Creating wealth is difficult, and we hope that the continent will stabilize." He stressed the importance of China, Hong Kong, Brazil, Russia, and Israel as future growth engines for UBS AG (NYSE; SWX: UBS).
At the press conference, UBS Wealth Management Israel CEO Kobi Faigenbaum said, "It turns out that customers want their banker nearby, regardless of technological developments. UBS, which identified Israel as an important market, decided to deepen its operations in Israel. What is happening here is that a bank of our size is to bring shekel portfolio management, and we have our own concept of money management. We don’t manage mutual funds, and we're completely free to pick our investments."
Asked why UBS didn’t acquire an existing business, UBS Israel & Africa head Patrick Müller replied, "It is always a question whether you want to grow organically or through acquisitions. The reason we didn’t acquire a company is that there is no company or investment house in the market that suited the concept that we want to bring to Israel. We don’t rule it out, but it's not on the agenda at this time."
Asked why UBS does not what an Israeli banking license, Villiger said, "We're a full bank in Switzerland, but we cannot be everything everywhere. Israel is a very important place, and we want to bring our expertise here."

(source: www.globes.co.il)