UBS plans hiring spree for China wealth management team

Shih said market volatility was pushing clients to look outside of their home market for investments.

"We see a lot more interest in diversification," said Shih.

The world's largest wealth manager plans to open a new wealth management branch in Shanghai by the end of the first quarter, said UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti in his opening address at a conference in Shanghai on Monday.

"We expect double-digit growth in this market," he added according to a transcript of his speech circulated at the conference.

In November UBS Asset Management launched an entity in the Shanghai free trade zone to raise private funds in China to invest overseas via China's Qualified Domestic Limited Partner scheme (QDLP).

Many fund managers use the QDLP program to tap high net-worth Chinese individuals and institution investors for cash to invest overseas.

In 2015, high net worth individuals put 65 percent of their investable assets in private banks or other wealth management institutions, a jump of 25 percent from 2009, according to a private wealth report published in September by Bain & Company.

But in November, the bank pushed back a targeted adjusted return on tangible equity -- a measure of profitability -- of above 15 percent to 2018 from 2016 previously, citing the slowdown in China and difficult macroeconomic conditions as reasons for the move.

(Editing by Louise Heavens)