UBS Wealth Margins Slip as Customers Remain “Paralyzed”

Profit margins at UBS AG’s wealth business narrowed in the second quarter as turbulent financial markets curbed trading by its customers.

Gross margin, the revenue generated on client assets, dropped to 89 basis points in the second quarter from 97 basis points a year earlier at the firm’s unit for wealthy clients outside the U.S., UBS said today. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point.