2022 will be remembered as a year of unprecedented geopolitical and economic turbulence. War in Ukraine and continuing Covid-related restrictions disrupted supply chains, sparked an energy crisis and fuelled inflation. This, and the resulting policy response of interest rate hikes, generated significant volatility in the equity and fixed-income markets, and stoked fears of recession.

These upheavals once again underscored UBP's ability to adapt to radical changes and to hold course in an environment with little or no visibility.

The Bank’s top priority during this tumultuous year was to remain as close as possible to our clients, both private and institutional, in order to provide them with continuous advice and relevant solutions in the face of challenging market conditions. Client satisfaction remains, as ever, our central tenet.

This new investment paradigm required a reset of portfolio allocations. While many clients took refuge in the safety of interest-bearing deposits, our decorrelated investment offering, including structured products, private markets and hedge funds, proved a welcome alternative for clients as they exited equity and fixed income.

Confident in our business strategy, we continued to invest in our core competences and markets. This included the further strengthening of our sustainability offering and research, the completion of the acquisition of Danske Bank International (DBI) in Luxembourg, the selective recruitment of experienced relationship managers and the start of our Chinese onshore wealth management capabilities with a first office in Hainan Province.

Simultaneously we reviewed our operating model for gains in efficiency, reinforcing our processes and enhancing the client experience as well as closing our Nassau branch and selling our US client business (UBP Investment Advisors).