'Assets are only one aspect of how we assess a client. In fact, it is probably more pertinent to view our ultra-high-net-worth client services as being needs based,' Mr Hirzel said. 'In this sense, we tend to differentiate clients into four clusters, comprising entrepreneurs, who are still running their businesses; wealthy families which delegate investment management to family office operations; direct-access clients who are active traders linked directly to our trading floor, and independently wealthy clients who are typically individuals that have monetised their industrial assets and retired.

'KeyClient services are organised to meet the specific requirements of each of these clusters.'

By far the biggest category of ultra-high-net-worth clients served by UBS Wealth management in the Asia-Pacific region are entrepreneurs, representing around 60 per cent of KeyClient Segment relationships. Mr Hirzel said the UBS ultra-high-net-worth client unit had aligned its services with the needs of the entrepreneur through a corporate advisory team. This gave clients support when their businesses were involved in mergers and acquisition activity, and could link clients with the UBS group's investment banking unit if they needed access to corporate financing.

Because of their vast wealth, the super-rich customers of the KeyClient Segment could afford to invest with the clout of an institution and participate in a greater range of investments, Mr Hirzel said. A KeyClient customer would typically have a wide variety of assets to invest on a global scale, which could include industrial assets, direct property investment, art and other vehicles unavailable to less wealthy private banking clients.

'The variety of assets which ultra-high-net-worth clients participate in brings a whole new level of complexity and sophistication to investment management and risk management. In fact, the services we provide to ultra-wealthy clients are totally different to those offered to less wealthy high-net-worth individuals, who have a clearly defined pool of investable assets,' Mr Hirzel said.

But as ultra-high net worth individuals often set up family offices and employed their own full-time investment experts to manage their extensive wealth, were private banks in danger of being sidelined or become a commoditised service?

Mr Hirzel said there were ultra-wealthy clients who approached the KeyClient Segment to shop for certain investment products, but the vast majority took advantage of the division's wide-ranging expertise and advisory services.

'Clients looking to invest in private equity, for example, would find it hard to outperform other asset classes unless they could identify and gain access to the top quartile of private equity companies,' Mr Hirzel said.

'Even wealthy investors with family offices don't have the expertise in-house to achieve that. In cases like this, there is a clear need for the KeyClient Segment's advisory services, which can help in selecting the right private equity firms to speak to and deal with the complexities of a deal.'

Advisory services most sought by KeyClient Segment's clients in Asia was risk management, followed by family governance advisory and philanthropy advisory.

Kaven Leung, chief executive, Citi Global Wealth Management, Asia-Pacific, said the Mega-Wealth Team aimed to meet its customers needs by providing institutional access to the US private bank's full, worldwide investment resources.

Thirty of the Mega Wealth Team's most affluent clients were hosted at a week-long summit in India last December to show the country's appeal as an investment and wealth management destination as well as to network with its business elite.

Mr Leung said mega wealth was one of the fastest growing segments for Citigroup Private Bank in Asia-Pacific. In Hong Kong, the segment recorded 60 per cent faster growth in 2006 than the private bank's overall business. Citigroup manages more than 100 relationships with mega-wealth clients, most of whom are based in Hong Kong.

Citigroup Private Bank has been tempting ultra-high-net-worth clients across the world with co-investment opportunities, in which the bank invests alongside clients. Recent co-investment products included an investment opportunity involving a US-based global distributor of laboratory supplies and educational materials to industrial, pharmaceutical, educational and governmental markets.

Mr Leung also points to a private equity investment for clients involving a mobile telecom operator in Central and Eastern Europe.

'The investment was part of a leveraged buyout of the company, the fourth largest company by revenues in its country,' he said.