In China, female billionaires are growing in number.

Billionaires Report

According to the UBS PwC Billionaires Report, the total wealth controlled by the world's billionaires rose by more than 19 percent year-on-year in 2017, to USD 8.9 trillion, reports CNBC. The driving force behind the trend is Chinese wealth creation, the report says, with the country creating two new billionaires every week last year. The number of female billionaires is also growing strongly, particularly in China, where their number grew by 13 percent last year, outstripping global growth in female billionaires, which stood at 11 percent. One key difference, explains Josef Stadler, Head of UHNW UBS Global Wealth Management, is that "we see in China entrepreneurial female billionaires, whereas in Europe and the United States there are more females who inherit, but then get into entrepreneurial activities as a result."

The UBS PwC Billionaires Report 2018 shows that the combined wealth of China's billionaires surged 39 percent to USD 1.12 trillion last year, which is more than double the gains reaped by their peers in the US and Europe, whose collective fortunes increased 12 percent and 19 percent, respectively. John Mathews, Head of UHNW Americas UBS Global Wealth Management, says that "we're in a new gilded age," with "unbelievable and unprecedented wealth" in China. Some of the wealth gains may be illusory, however, cautions Bloomberg. The report showed that roughly half of China's new billionaires saw their wealth dip below 10 digits by the end of the year in 2017, a trend that is continuing in 2018.

The US remains the largest concentration of wealth worldwide, and is still the home of innovation, John Mathews, Head of UHNW Americas UBS Global Wealth Management, says on Monocle24's The Bulletin With UBS. According to Mike Ryan, UBS Chief Investment Officer Americas, the major takeaway from the Billionaires Report is that the figures represent the rise of China. Josef Stadler, Head of UHNW UBS Global Wealth Management, points out that China no longer copies innovations from elsewhere, but exports its own innovations out into the world. Judy Spalthoff, Head of Family and Philanthropy Advisory Americas at UBS Financial Services, discusses the importance of the growing number of women billionaires, and the importance of succession planning.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag writes that Chinese authorities are increasingly scrutinizing the country's ultra-wealthy, and cracking down where they suspect wrongdoing. They cite the example of high-profile actress Fan Bingbing, who disappeared for months before making a tearful public confession, admitting to tax evasion and promising to repay CHF 130 million. Banks can easily get caught up in the mix, the paper says, citing the current example of a UBS employee asked to remain in Beijing and assist investigators in matters unknown. UBS Group CEO Sergio Ermotti has assured that this has nothing to do with either the bank or the employee, but several other banks quickly issued China travel bans to their staff, the paper notes.


If you would like a copy of the report, please contact me at jacoline.loewen  at  ubs dot com

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How prepared you are to live well in retirement?

MIT AgeLab has identified three questions you should ask yourself to assess how prepared you are to live well in retirement:

1. Who will change my light bulbs?2. How will I get an ice cream cone?3. Who will I have lunch with?

What do these questions have to do with retirement planning? 

A lot more than you might think. They actually uncover important factors about aging in place, staying mobile, and maintaining a strong social network in retirement. These factors can serve as a starting point for planning a satisfying retirement.

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Bloom Burton Award honours Dr. Clarissa Desjardins, Clementia Pharmaceuticals

Bloom Burton Gala 2018, Jacoline Loewen

Recognizing entrepreneurs stirs up the economy in many ways. The reason the Bloom Burton Awards Gala 2018 worked so well is the spirit of the two leaders of the firm. - Brian Bloom and Jolyon Burton. They not only stirred up the health and pharma industry, but also put on a spectacular gala. The duo were inspiring as they talked about the nominees and their journey to success.  They also lifted the spirits of everyone with Brian's story about his choice of tuxedo for the evening, a great choice, I must add.

Getting serious, the winner was Dr. Clarissa Desjardins, Founder and CEO of Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc., which specializes in bone disorders.

Bestowed annually, the Bloom Burton Award honours an individual scientist, inventor, executive, entrepreneur, industry leader, or policy maker who made the greatest contribution to Canada’s innovative healthcare industry in the previous year. 

Nominees are accepted from any of the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic/imaging, research instrumentation, consumer health, services or healthcare IT sectors, and equal consideration was given to contributions across any stage of development – from discovery to commercial end markets.

There were good wishes sent from the Prime Minister of Canada, as well as the leader of Ontario and our City of Toronto. Well done, Bloom Burton, for a tremendous event.
 

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Jolyon Burton, Dr Desjardins and Brian Bloom, 2018

Craig Loewen and his UWaterloo team win James Dyson Engineering Award for Canada

Craig Loewen with /university of Waterloo tea, winners of James Dyson Award

Very proud of my son and his award by Dyson. He was interviewed by the University of Waterloo: 

A blog post, written by a visually impaired person about the challenges she faced trying to use the office’s new touch screen coffee maker, was the inspiration behind a recent Waterloo Engineering Capstone Design project. WatVision took home top honours in the national leg at this year’s James Dyson Award for its clever, yet simple engineering principles.

Developed by six mechatronics engineering students, WatVision is a system that reads out words or numbers on a device allowing visually impaired individuals to make a cup of java, select an elevator floor or perform other functions most people take for granted.

“We looked at creating braille readers at first, but decided that would be way too hard,” says Craig Loewen, a WatVision member. “When [a team member] read a blog post about an individual not being able to make coffee because she couldn’t use the touch screen, we all said that we could solve that problem.”

“In about 30 minutes, the person who was blind was able to go through a few screens on a touch screen. Another individual with low vision was able to use it instantly and really liked it,” says Loewen.

In March, WatVision captured a GM Innovation Award as well as second place in the People’s Choice Award during TronCon, an annual mechatronics engineering event that connects alumni with current students.

Read full article.

Family Offices and Wealth Management: What's driving investment trends.

Family Offices: Dave Mason, Jacoline Loewen, Ed Montero, Sarah Beven

In Calgary, the team held a series of events where they presented the proprietary research on Family Offices and Wealth Management: What's driving investment trends. Five families with wealth case studies were discussed about family businesses, and their best practices as well as stumbling blocks.  

Creating corporate governance around wealth is a simple rule to state but as they say, the devil is in the details. Yet, those families, or founders, will fail if there are no rules of the road.  If the goal is ongoing transfer of wealth to the next generation which sparks the second generation to live a happy life, there needs to be thought put into action. It does all boil down to setting up governance in order to keep running family wealth management.

Held at The Petroleum Club in Calgary offered exclusive peer network of other UBS Global Family Office clients to share knowledge and discover new business opportunities.

In addition to the proprietary research, other areas of interest to wealthy families and their wealth management are:

·         Financing and advisory solutions for real estate, art collections, aircraft, hedge fund portfolios, securities backed lending, margin capabilities and more

·         Around-the-clock direct contact with our bankers, traders, specialists and sales teams in every market, product class and currency - Fully customizable real-time reporting of holdings, balances, margin, risk profiles and tax status for assets held with UBS and elsewhere

·         Tailored client portfolios to meet specific investment objectives, along with hedge fund portfolio monitoring

·         Participation in private placement deals for qualified pre-IPO clients, anchor investments and global syndicate offerings

·         Legacy advisory services, including estate planning, a young successors program and philanthropy strategies to sustain achievements and make lasting impact through giving

·         Customized guidance from the Strategic Equity Solutions Group to optimize risk/return profiles, funding, tax and accounting treatment, capital consumption, market risk, legal treatment

·         Full range of core and advisory services from UBS Prime Brokerage for family offices to efficiently gain access to the entire firm

·         Family advisory services, including governance frameworks, governing bodies, corporate advisory, management platforms, asset holding structures and business succession plans.

To learn more about family advisory, please send a request to receive the Family Office Compass, a practical guide for families setting up and maintaining their own dedicated family office.
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