UBS has been named as Canada’s best private bank by Euromoney magazine in its benchmark annual survey of the wealth management industry.

UBS Wealth Management was also ranked as the world’s best private bank in the survey for the fourth consecutive year. Citigroup was runner-up, with HSBC in third place.

The most improved performers were Deutsche Bank, which rose from 12th overall in 2006 to 6th place this year; and two French banks, BNP Paribas and Société Générale, which both broke into the top 10 in the overall global rankings.

Euromoney praised UBS which, it said, “through acquisitions and aggressive expansion, has succeeded in building up a presence across the globe and rolling out its holistic wealth management solutions to the broadening needs of high-net-worth clients.”

“The results of this year’s survey, however, point to growing competition from regional players on their home turf. Global private banks will need to develop their onshore capabilities strongly to compete, or look to make acquisitions,” it added. “A global focus by private banks on clients in the wealth creation phase is further intensifying competition. Private banks have to convince clients that they have access to the best-of-breed third-party products in alternative investments, and access to balance sheets to aid high-net-worth investors in this phase of the wealth cycle.”

The number one ranking in Canada was a first for UBS.

UBS reports that, in Canada, it ranked first in a number of other categories, including services for Ultra High Net Worth Clients (greater than $30 million), High Net Worth II ($10 million to $30 million) and High Net Worth I ($1 million to $10 million).

The survey was based on responses from 558 private banks and wealth managers, representing $3.34 trillion of assets under management and $66.2 billion of global annual revenue.