UBS Direct Investments Group is the dedicated investment arm and asset management division within UBS, one of the largest global wealth management firms. With over $1 trillion in invested assets, UBS Direct Investments Group provides customized investment solutions to ultra high net worth and institutional clients. Its investment capabilities span public and private equity, fixed income, real estate, infrastructure and hedge funds. Key focus areas include impact investing, sustainable investing and technology investments. UBS Direct Investments Group has a global presence with main hubs in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific regions. It works closely with UBS’s wealth management teams to deliver tailored portfolios and privileged access to exclusive deals for qualified clients. The group leverages UBS’s global reach and investing expertise to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns across market cycles.
UBS Direct Investments as comprehensive investment platform
UBS Direct Investments Group operates as a comprehensive investment platform within UBS, providing full capabilities across traditional and alternative asset classes. Its public equity investments cover active and passive strategies across global, regional and sector-focused mandates. The fixed income team invests across the full spectrum of credit markets and delivers solutions customized to client needs. The real estate franchise offers core, value-add and opportunistic strategies in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific through open and closed-end fund structures. The infrastructure practice focuses on core, core plus and value-add investments in OECD countries. The fund investment arm provides access to third-party managers through multi-manager funds, advisory services and customized portfolio construction. The hedge fund team complements internal capabilities with external managers focused on absolute return strategies.
Focus on impact, sustainability and technology
UBS Direct Investments Group has built out dedicated teams focused on three key investment themes – impact investing, sustainability and technology. The impact investing practice delivers market-rate returns alongside positive social and environmental impact by investing in areas like renewable energy, education, healthcare and affordable housing. The sustainability team integrates ESG factors across investment processes to drive better risk-adjusted returns. The technology investment unit partners with leading venture capital funds globally to get clients privileged access to the most promising private technology companies across sectors like fintech, healthtech, consumer tech and enterprise software.
Global footprint serving UHNW and institutional clients
UBS Direct Investments Group operates through main hubs in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific to serve its ultra high net worth and institutional client base. Key locations include New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, Zurich, Singapore and Hong Kong. While exact minimums vary based on offering, the direct investments platform largely focuses on clients with $50 million and above in investable assets. The group works closely with UBS’s wealth management teams to deliver bespoke offerings and portfolio construction insights tailored to client objectives. Institutional clients include pensions, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds and family offices.
Strong performance across market environments
UBS Direct Investments Group has a track record of generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for clients over multiple market cycles. According to UBS, its balanced multi-asset class portfolios have outperformed blended benchmarks on a net-of-fees basis over 3, 5 and 10 year periods as of Dec 2021. The group’s real estate offerings have also delivered double digit net returns over the past decade. While not immune to market volatility, UBS Direct Investments aims to provide durable return streams, downside resilience and diversification benefits to client portfolios through active asset allocation, manager selection and risk management.
Ongoing innovation in investment solutions
UBS Direct Investments Group continues to innovate and expand its investment offerings and vehicles to provide differentiated solutions to clients. Recent examples include the launch of a thematic multi-manager fund focused on accelerating compute power and connectivity, as well as a systematic global macro strategy designed to perform in different market environments. The platform also continues to grow its impact investing and sustainable investing capabilities across asset classes. Product innovation is targeted at meeting the evolving needs of UHNW and institutional investors globally.
UBS Direct Investments Group operates as the dedicated asset management arm within UBS, providing customized investment solutions across public and private markets for qualified ultra high net worth and institutional clients. With its global footprint, breadth of capabilities and track record of performance, the direct investments platform aims to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns and portfolio diversification benefits to investors.