Ballast and balance in wealth management, according to UBS's Edmund Koh

Singapore

STICKING his elbows out to make his point, UBS's top wealth management executive in this region, Edmund Koh, says he gets a little on edge with anyone breathing down his neck in a queue. Mr Koh, already ahead of the pack while running the largest private banking franchise in the Asia-Pacific, wants to keep inching ahead.

To keep a healthy distance with the next ones in line - that would be Citi, and Credit Suisse, according to rankings - he has snapped up an investment banking veteran, Tracey Woon from Citi, to patch gaps in a pure private banking play. Hiring top names such as Ms Woon, and Gan Seow Ann, the ex-president of the Singapore Exchange, are ways to stitch up advice that takes a sweeping view across Asian entrepreneurs' wealth that are intrinsically tied to business fortunes.