BoA pips UBS as top wealth manager as sector shrinks

* Wealth investor assets drop 17 pct to $14.5 trillion

* Bank of America new industry leader with $1.5 trillion

* $9.2 trillion concentrated among 20 big players

* Banks still adding staff, new hires up 6 pct

By Lisa Jucca, European Wealth Management Correspondent

ZURICH, July 6 (Reuters) - Bank of America (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has
toppled crisis-hit UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) as the world's biggest wealth
manager as the industry faces shrinking wealth and another tough
12 months, a survey showed on Monday.

Private wealth managed by banks and investment managers
around the world dropped nearly 17 percent to $14.5 trillion in
2008 from a year earlier, a survey by specialist consultancy
Scorpio Partnership of 14,000 private bankers and 7,000 wealthy
individuals showed on Monday.

The drop in managed wealth, the first since 2002, highlights
the industry pressures of the global financial crisis and
weakening bank secrecy in offshore centres after years of
buoyant growth.

Scorpio predicts another very tough 12 months for those
market players who fail to address current challenges.

"2009-2010 will be a moment of truth for the global private
banking model," said Managing Partner Sebastian Dovey.

"The way through will be an intelligent focus on profitable
segments and efficiency drives."

Bank of America rose to become the world's largest bank to
the rich after taking over Merrill Lynch & Co. MER.N last year
and managed at the end of 2008 $1.5 trillion of private clients'
assets.

UBS has suffered massive outflows at its core wealth
management division after losing billions of dollars in the
subprime crisis. Its brand has also been hit by a high-profile
tax fraud litigation in the United States.

Despite its many woes it still managed to hold the second
position with $1.394 trillion.

NOT SO FRAGMENTED

The survey showed that wealth was still concentrated in the
United States and in the hands of a few players, defying a
perception that the sector is overly fragmented.

The top 20 global private banks manage nearly $9.2 trillion,
or more than a half of global private client assets, the survey
showed.

"Market fragmentation as a characteristic of the industry is
hugely overstated," Dovey said.

Despite shrinking assets, the industry continued to add
headcount and there was a 6 percent rise in new hires, with far
more firms hiring than firing staff.

Following are the top 10 wealth managers and their assets
under management in billions of dollars, according to the
survey:

1. Bank of America 1,501

2. UBS 1,393

3. Citi 1,320

4. Wells Fargo 1,000

5. Credit Suisse 612

6. JPMorgan 552

7. Morgan Stanley 522

8. HSBC 352

9. Deutsche Bank 231

10. Goldman Sachs 215

(Editing by Greg Mahlich)