The Zurich-listed banking and wealth management house has recruited from a rival as part of its work with family office investors.

UBS has appointed Susan Elolampi from JP Morgan to work with private equity firms and head up investment banking for family offices in the Americas, a sign of how such banks are trying to engage with that sector, according to a media report.

Elolampi has the title of managing director and is based in New York, Bloomberg reported, citing a memo sent to staff late last week from Max Justicz, UBS’s head of financial sponsors in the Americas. His memo stated that “family office clients represent an important growth area” for the bank.

Family Wealth Report has contacted UBS for comment and may update this article in due course.

Banks such as UBS, JP Morgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, among others, are competing to serve family offices, providing offerings including outsourced support, investment operations, as well as custody and related back-office functions that family offices may struggle to perform in-house. With regulatory costs and client expectations rising, there is a constant debate on how much these institutions can do in-house and how much needs to be outsourced. 

Elolampi has worked in various roles at JP Morgan since September 2001, according to her Linkedin profile. Most recently, she held the role from February 2015 of MD for investment banking - family office coverage.