UBS’s success in its markets business in 2024 came down to three factors: its long-standing commitment to the region with solid on-the-ground presence in all core markets, the integration with Credit Suisse that gave its franchise a fillip, and its focus on the Hong Kong and China markets despite the volatility of recent years.
The last proposition is particularly important, given the bank’s steady growth onshore, where it has full markets capabilities through UBS Securities. UBS’s China share of the markets business grew from 2.97% to 3.6% in 2024, and hit 4.15% in the first quarter of 2025.
Additionally, China markets revenues grew 25% year-on-year in 2024, while trading volume jumped 40%.
“We consider ourselves as the most China-relevant international bank as well as the most international bank from China,” says Tim Wannenmacher, co-head of global markets for Asia Pacific. “Helping global clients entering China and Chinese clients expanding globally is our top priority. Being this close to our clients and the market is a key differentiator where we believe we’re the unchallenged number one bank supporting clients transacting in and out of China.”
More broadly, UBS’s Asia Pacific global markets business saw double-digit revenue growth in 2024, accounting for nearly one-third of global markets revenues.
A standout feature is UBS’s ability to provide bespoke solutions to clients, alongside liquidity and execution capabilities – something that was strengthened in markets like Japan following the Credit Suisse integration.
“We play to our strengths with a capital-light model,” adds Thomas de Garidel, the region’s other global markets co-head. “UBS is not a balance sheet-heavy investment bank, so we emphasise on the full spectrum of capabilities we have and strategically choose where to compete.”
UBS navigated successfully the quant quake at the start of the year, the unwinding of the carry trade in yen, policy changes in China, and the US election
This means a robust business all around. In execution services, UBS ranked top three in the region for equities and was number one in Australia and New Zealand, and in southeast Asia. In financing, UBS is among the leaders in prime brokerage and securities-backed lending in southeast Asia and Australia.
Then there is the use of technology. UBS was an early pioneer of electronic trading in line with changing market structures and the emergence of new regulations. The bank has been investing in electronic trading to create FX, rates, credit and futures offering.
Its latest development is a next generation algo engine that incorporates UBS’s global model based on behavioural economic principles designed to minimise trading costs. The algo has allowed UBS to optimise for internalisation, leading to a 14% crossing rate in Hong Kong and a 25%-plus crossing rate in Japan, as well as improved volume weighted average price performance by 25% to 70%. This means the engine can lower execution costs of trades.
The global markets business has also prioritised reducing latency and increasing capacity by enhancing its infrastructure. The result: a 94% reduction in latency on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and a 52% drop on the Shanghai stock exchange.
Garidel points to four major events in 2024 that UBS navigated successfully: the quant quake at the start of the year, the unwinding of the carry trade in yen, policy changes in China, and the US election. Throughout these events, UBS performed well across assets classes, from a trading and risk management point of view, he says.
All these efforts, when combined with UBS’s laser focus on client needs, are paying off.
