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Tuesday, December 9, 2014

UBS wants 'super-teams' to draw more assets from the very wealthy, (NYSE: MS), (NYSE: UBS)

UBS AG aims to triple the assets that its U.S. wealth management clients keep in fee-based accounts within seven to 10 years, a top executive said on Tuesday. Like rivals such as Morgan Stanley and Bank of America's Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, UBS Wealth Management Americas is moving "up the chain" of wealthy investors to pull their money to its asset management platforms, said Paul Hatch, who oversees products and services sold by UBS Wealth Management Americas' 7,000 brokers."We have to get further and further from the mass affluent space, and, some people would say, even from the high-net-worth space to the ultra-high-net-worth," Hatch, a group managing director, told mutual fund sales executives at a conference sponsored by Financial Research Associates.In securities industry jargon, "mass affluent" generally describes clients with $250,000 to $1 million of investable assets, "high net worth" to those with $1 million to $10 million and "ultra high net worth" to those in higher spheres. Brokerages say fee-based accounts are more lucrative and consistent than traditional commission accounts.To compete with private banks and legions of other firms jockeying for money from the super-wealthy, brokerage firms tell advisers to work more intensely with the rich by offering broad planning services as well as investment advice, and using technology that is too expensive to deliver to the less wealthy.

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides its products and services to a range of clients and customers, including corporations, governments, financial institutions and individuals. Shares of MS traded higher by 0.26% or $0.1/share to $38.10. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $28.31 and as high as $38.14. On average, 10193900 shares of MS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 12237211.

Shares of UBS fell by 0.39% or $-0.07/share to $17.96. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $15.04 and as high as $21.50. On average, 2306490 shares of UBS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 732309.



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