UBS has spent the past five years rebuilding its Australian markets business after an exodus of senior staff in 2020, and in 2025 the results of that rebuild became clear. The firm runs equities, fixed income and FX as one cross-asset operation, fully staffed locally across prime brokerage, portfolio trading, transition management, block trading, electronic trading and derivatives. Whether a superannuation fund is rebalancing offshore, a corporate is hedging export revenue or a hedge fund is financing a long-short book, clients deal with a single relationship.
The global platform behind the Sydney desk adds depth few local rivals can match. In FX, UBS supports 50 currencies and more than 550 currency pairs across spot, forwards and swaps, with NDFs across Asia, Europe and Latin America. The bank won a number of categories at Euromoney’s 2026 FX Awards, including world’s best FX liquidity provider, best bank for FX spot and best bank for FX trading technology.
The rebuilding of UBS’s Australian franchise has also strengthened the depth of its local markets expertise
Buy-side investors ranked UBS first for corporate access in Extel’s 2026 Australian survey, ahead of Macquarie Capital, Barrenjoey, JPMorgan and Citi, and voted its 2025 Australasia Conference the best investor event in the country. The Sydney team runs more than 400 company and investor roadshows and over 140 bespoke expert events a year, generating more than 18,000 client interactions, as fund managers increasingly seek access to resources companies.
The rebuilding of UBS’s Australian franchise has also strengthened the depth of its local markets expertise. Five Australia-based staff were promoted to managing director in 2025, against two the year before, including the heads of equity derivatives flow trading and ECM syndication and a joint head of research. The Sydney office also hosts 14 regional and three global roles, making it a hub for the group’s wider APAC markets business.
