The latest news from around the world on developments in technology and new ways of delivering wealth management.

UBS
UBS now offers private clients in Asia-Pacific an official communication channel on WeChat (in Hong Kong) and Whatsapp (in Hong Kong and Singapore ), the first region to roll out this offering.

The world's largest wealth management house is tapping into growing appetite for the ability to view financial and investment information "on the go" via mobile devices.

The UBS Advisor Messaging on WeChat was launched in September 2018, and launched on Whatsapp in June this year.

The Swiss bank is aware of the scale of the channels such conduits provide. Whatsapp has 1.5 billion users worldwide. WeChat has more than a billion monthly users, and is China’s most popular messaging app.

Clients can use their personal Wechat or WhatsApp accounts to chat with their client advisors and discuss portfolio performance and account balances; send queries on products and prices; share CIO House Views research reports and instant reaction notes on new market movements; receive requested status updates from CAs; and stay informed of UBS client engagements. Client advisors can also invite other participants such as UBS product specialists into the group chat, where communication becomes fully productive and efficient.
 
UBS said that all messages are recorded, archived and monitored so that the bank complies with relevant rules.

"Archival and monitoring are automated, along with other electronic communications, to have a central and holistic view of electronic communications of the clients and staff involved. We decided to use the official API (Facebook and Tencent) to create the channel. It gives the bank the assurance of reliability and stability that comes with the direct connection with the messaging providers," it said.