Why cricket
With 2.5 billion fans, cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world and top cricket players have had a following since the game was invented. As a gentlemen’s game, cricket has been creating great role models for generations. This lines up with UBP’s values and aspirations: we too are proud to attract and foster outstanding talent among our teams, in order to offer a service of the highest caliber.
The upcoming 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup, in the UK, is expected to be one of the most viewed sporting events ever. Partnering with the ICC is an inspiring way for UBP to expand its global brand presence. We are pleased to share with our clients, partners and social network followers the excitement of this major event in the sporting calendar.
A set of common values
As one of the largest family-owned private banks in the world, UBP is inspired by values that resonate strongly with those of cricket, a gentlemen’s sport guided by fairness and integrity, excellence, accountability, teamwork and respect for diversity.
In a similar vein, UBP’s four key values are dedication, conviction, agility and responsibility. They express UBP’s determination to achieve its objectives and to respond to its clients’ expectations, as well as work in their best interests. Day-to-day, this is embodied by all our staff, as these values inspire and guide them in everything they do, regardless of their role.
UBP in brief
UBP was founded in Switzerland in 1969. We focus on the one activity we excel at – wealth management for private and institutional clients. UBP has grown, in just a few decades, to be recognised among our peers as a stable, reliable and successful private bank with an unmatched talent for entrepreneurship and vision.
Today, UBP has offices in over twenty locations in key economic and financial hubs worldwide, enabling it to combine global expertise with local know-how. We continue to expand both in our home market and abroad, consistently stepping up our private banking activities and our asset management capabilities. With assets under management of CHF 126.8 billion as at the end of December 2018 and a professional workforce of around 1,781 people worldwide, UBP stands among the leaders in the field of wealth management in Switzerland.
Deeply rooted in Switzerland
Switzerland has long been recognised as one of the most secure nations in the world, thanks to the stability of its legal and political system and the health of its economy and public finances. The country offers a favourable environment for business and finance, in large part due to its excellent infrastructure and highly skilled workforce.
UBP is headquartered in Geneva. As an international city located at the heart of Europe, Geneva is recognised as a global financial centre with a long tradition of wealth management and is valued by investors from all over the world. Few financial hubs offer such a diverse pool of skills and dense network of finance-related activities, including international law firms, insurance and inspection companies, auditors, and shipping companies.
Switzerland ranks in the top 5 countries listed in the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Competitiveness Report. Furthermore, according to the OECD’s 2014 Better Life Index, quality of life in Switzerland is among the highest in the world.
UBP’s leading expertise
We apply our steadfast vision, our entrepreneurial spirit and our investment expertise to bring significant added value and long-term performance to our clients’ wealth management strategies. We favour an active and flexible approach based on strong convictions, as well as a quick decision-making process, which enables us to seize the best opportunities for our clients. Our range of mandates and advisory services is adaptable to our clients’ specific needs and goals. Our integrated business model favours close integration of our Private Banking and our Asset Management divisions, providing our private clients with access to market-leading advice.
Our range of investment solutions includes global & absolute return fixed income, emerging markets, direct investments, responsible investing & impact investing, Swiss and European equities, Japanese equities, and alternative investments.
Four good reasons to get into cricket!*
- It’s the mother of all sports. The origins of modern cricket date back to the 18th century, when precise rules were set and codified and clubs were created. Cricket’s club structure is what then inspired players of other games, making cricket the founder of all modern sports.
- The rules aren’t that complicated! As Matthew Engel put it in Cricket for Dummies, “It’s a lot like baseball. Except that it’s profoundly different”.
- It’s the second most popular sport in the world after football. Being the number one game in India, which has a billion inhabitants, the number of cricket fans is difficult to beat. Paradoxically, the number of countries where it is played in is relatively small, covering essentially the former British Empire: India & Pakistan, the West Indies, parts of Africa, and Oceania. The British colonisers had imported football and rugby as well as cricket into India, but because of the caste system the close contact required in rugby was improper and so the game never took off, unlike cricket which was considered more respectable.
- It fosters world peace. So-called ‘cricket diplomacy’ is a phrase that emerges at least every four years at every Cricket World Cup. As cricket historian Boria Majumdar explained to Le Monde in 2009, “Historically, every time India and Pakistan have been through periods of tension in their bilateral relations, cricket has come to the rescue.”
*Source: Libération