19 May, 2006

UBS tops II All-Asia Research Survey for the fifth year running

For a fifth consecutive year, UBS occupies the number-one position in Institutional Investor's All-Asia (Asia and Australia ex Japan) Research Survey. Investors voting in the industry's most highly respected poll attribute the sharpest insights and the most useful advice in the region to UBS.

UBS ranked in 24 out of 29 categories polled and contributed six top-rated teams. They were: Economics, Transportation, Oil & Gas (including Chemicals), Metals & Mining (including Steel), the Philippines, and Equity Strategy. Second-place rankings for UBS were: Auto & Auto Parts, China, Malaysia, Small Caps, Property, Telecommunications. Third-place rankings comprised: India, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia/New Zealand, Technology/Hardware, Technology/Semiconductors, Power, Thailand, Banks/Financials, and Singapore.

The poll was conducted between January and February 2006. Around 430 fund management groups voted, representing an increase of more than 30% on last year.

10 May, 2006

New equity vehicle is latest innovative product to drive CDO team's ongoing success

UBS's Global Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) Group recently closed its first CDO Equity vehicle. The vehicle, called Opera Structured Credit Limited, is managed by AXA Investment Management Paris, SA. UBS and AXA IM successfully raised US$190m from over a dozen institutional clients from around the world.

In the past, investors needed their own in-house resources to review and purchase CDOs, particularly at the equity level. Vehicles such as Opera give investors access to an asset class that might otherwise not be available to them.

According to the Bond Market Association (BMA), which only recently started publishing quarterly CDO issuance data, total CDO issuance grew 59% in 2005, to US$250.9bn from US$157.4bn in 2004. Issuance in the first quarter of 2006 was US$71.5bn, almost 50% greater than first quarter 2005's figure of US$47.8bn.

UBS continues to be a top arranger in CDOs and Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs), ranking seventh in total issuance for 2005. The firm moved up to third place in the first quarter of this year, with US$6.4bn of issuance across seven transactions, and a 10.8% market share.

Recent examples of UBS innovation in this field include last year's successful Duke funding 9 offering.

At US$2.5bn, this is the largest ABS CDO issued to date and its strong performance led last month to the US$1.2bn follow-on Duke 10 issue.

Opera is structured as a closed-end vehicle that will invest in a diversified pool of CDO equity on an unlevered basis. CDO equity is considered to have a low correlation to other alternative investments and equity markets. Returns will be realized primarily through cash flow distributions, rather than net asset value appreciation.

The advantages of Opera for investors include locking in term-financing in the form of senior and mezzanine debt in the current spread environment, thus providing non-recourse financing and eliminating margin-call risk. Investors also benefit from AXA IM's experience as an investor in CDOs and the relationships it has in the CDO industry.

AXA IM began investing in CDOs in 1999. It is one of the largest and most experienced investors in the CDO market, with a CDO equity and debt investment portfolio of approximately EUR2bn management, as of June 2005.


3 May, 2006

UBS wins in Digital FX Awards

UBS has put in a strong performance in Profit & Loss magazine's Digital FX Awards 2006, winning Best FX Options Platform, Best Banks Platform, Best Structured Products Platform and the CLS Bank Award.

"UBS continues to be a provider of online options functionality par excellence," says Profit & Loss of the
Best FX Options Platform award, which UBS has now won for the third year in a row.

Of the Best Banks Platform award, the magazine says: "Providing tools for fellow banks is something in which UBS always has, and probably always will, excel."

The winners of these awards are decided by the editorial team at Profit & Loss, based on e-tool demonstrations, customer feedback and how clients are able to use the technology provided by banks.

1 May, 2006

Corporate clients vote UBS top for Equity Derivatives in key survey by Risk

UBS's Equity Risk Management team has recorded another outstanding performance in Risk magazine's Corporate End-User Survey 2006.

The results, which were announced this week, show that corporate clients rate UBS number one for Equity Derivatives Overall, and number one for both Equity Index Options and Single Stock Options.

Votes from 420 corporates across the globe were received in the survey. Participants were asked to vote for their top-three derivatives dealers, in order of preference, in derivatives categories they had traded in over the course of the year.

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