UBS Taiwan

29 January 2010 - Dow Jones International News


UBS Taiwan To Add 15-20 Wealth-Management Staff In 2010

UBS AG (UBS) will add 15 to 20 wealth-management relationship managers in Taiwan this year, in a push to increase its business on the island, Dennis Chen, chief executive of UBS's wealth-management business in Taiwan, said Friday.

The company's wealth-management operation in Taiwan has about 210 staff now, Chen said.

He said Taiwan was one of the few wealth-management markets in Asia that was profitable for UBS in 2009.

But "business will be more challenging this year...it will not be like the smooth sailing we had in 2009," Chen said.

William Dong, head of UBS equity research in Taiwan, said he expects the current correction in Taiwan shares still has quite a way to go, and market volatility will likely continue until June. Investors will then start to get a better idea of how the economy will fare in 2011, he said.

Taiwan's benchmark Weighted Price Index ended down 0.7% Friday at 7640.44, its ninth consecutive decline. It is down 6.7% since the start of the year.

"We expect a more solid recovery in the global economy in 2011 because that's when the global job markets will improve significantly," Dong said. "For Taiwan, we prefer PC hardware stocks over the long term."