In Good Company

UBS Asia-Pacific chief Edmund Koh on wealth, and winning

The banking veteran believes that in the wealth management business, it is important to be risk aware but not risk averse.

Mr Edmund Koh leads UBS’ Asia-Pacific region, which now contributes 37 per cent of the Swiss banking giant’s profit before tax. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
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Standing in for my editor to moderate a seminar at this year's St Gallen Forum themed on restoring trust in financial services, I tossed UBS Asia-Pacific president Edmund Koh, a fellow panellist, what in baseball analogy might be called a curveball.

The New York-headquartered family office Archegos Capital Management had just collapsed, causing huge losses for UBS and even more for rival Credit Suisse. Incredibly, news reports suggested that the potential fee reward from all the billions in leverage risked with Archegos was in the teen millions.

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