UBS is launching a guide to help philanthropists and social entrepreneurs create the most effective impact from their efforts, the Swiss banking group said as it announced the launch of its UBS Family Legacy & Philanthropy Forum in Shanghai.

UBS is launching a guide to help philanthropists and social entrepreneurs create the most effective impact from their efforts, the Swiss banking group said as it announced the launch of its UBS Family Legacy & Philanthropy Forum in Shanghai. The forum starts today and concludes the following day.

The firm is rolling out the UBS Philanthropy Compass in Asia. This “Compass”, developed in partnership with the Cass Business School and FSG Impact Consultants, is a practical guide.

The launch and the event is an example of how banks such as UBS and BNP Paribas, for example, see work with philanthropists as a significant service offering. Last November, the publisher of this news service was exclusive media partner for UBS at its forum in St Moritz, Switzerland, at which a key topic was the issue of impact investment.

At the forum in Shanghai, UBS said it expects to host 150 participants and speakers including eminent private philanthropists, social entrepreneurs and other figures from around the world. This year, the forum will discuss the main drivers of philanthropy in Asia and more particularly explore how leading multi-generational philanthropists have successfully created a family legacy through philanthropy.

“Increasingly, business families who want to create a `living’ family legacy spanning multiple generations will find themselves balancing issues of complexity, transparency and control within the family,” Amy Lo, chief executive of UBS Wealth Management Hong Kong, said in a statement ahead of the forum’s start.

Christina Tung, Head of Philanthropy & Values-based Investing, APAC, UBS added: "Philanthropy in Asia is undergoing a critical phase of development that will shape the giving landscape in the region for decades to come. We believe that the UBS Philanthropy Compass is a guide that can be valuable to other advisors, philanthropists and other players in the philanthropy sector who are looking to  bring forward new ideas and solutions, both to the social and environmental problems arising from Asia's growth."