Australia’s top UBS banker sees role in helping super-rich invest overseas

UBS Group AG expects wealthy Australians will seek more investments abroad as their assets grow and they look to diversify more.

UBS Australia co-head Anthony Sweetman said he was working to maintain and strengthen the company’s market position in Australia as investor demands changed.

“In Australia, you’re going to see continued growth in wealth and greater demand for wealth services,” Sweetman told Bloomberg TV in an interview at the UBS Australia conference in Sydney on Monday.

As with the firm’s institutional and pension investors, “you’re going to see wealth investors being more globally minded than ever before, which is positive for our business given our global focus.”

UBS last month reported results that beat expectations, driven by progress in trading and cost control following the integration of Credit Suisse. The company’s regional president said Australia and Singapore are the main markets in the Asia-Pacific region this year. Last week the bank’s shares hit their highest level since 2008.

Sweetman also said he expected more money to flow into Australia due to its attractiveness in the global competitive environment.

“Certainly what we’ve seen over the last 12 months is a lot of foreign direct investment activity from businesses, especially as we expect that to continue,” he said. This is driven by “Australia’s fundamentals and demographics”, which have relatively “more positive growth prospects and are an attractive investment location for foreign companies”.

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