UBS and Julius Baer try to offer wealth advice in the metaverse
UBS and Julius Baer try to offer wealth advice in the metaverse
Gabriel Thomas (GT)May 25, 2026
Two of the world's largest wealth managers are experimenting with moving client meetings from oak-paneled boardrooms to the metaverse, but face data security and motion sickness issues.
Swiss banks UBS and Julius Baer, which specialize in financial advice to billionaires, have tested the use of clunky headsets and pixelated avatars to interact with clients, according to people involved in the study.
But neither bank is close to launching a virtual reality offering for their ultra-wealthy customers after the experiments raised concerns about the technology's ease of use and the ability to securely share documents.
"The technology is still immature - to be honest it looks like Atari graphics right now and the people who tried it felt like they got sick," said a bank executive involved in the trials.
"Also, we have a lot of problems with the security of confidential and sensitive data.
The Metaverse is an immersive virtual world where people wearing headsets interact as three-dimensional avatars.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, which rebranded to Meta last year, has drawn investor ire with his heavy investments in virtual reality.
Wealth management is one of the last professional services to be disrupted by digitalization, as the super-rich value face-to-face contact with their advisors when discussing their investments.
But some money managers have invested heavily in technology in recent years to prepare for shifting demand.
Since taking over as CEO of UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, two years ago, Ralph Hamers has prioritized investments in digital technologies to cut costs and differentiate the company's offering from its competitors.
"We will use digitization and all associated opportunities to offer personal advice and tailor this advice to the needs of customers," said Hamers at this year's annual general meeting of the bank. "It's not a question of either/or: customers decide what they want and it's our job to deliver what they want.
Hamers had sought to use artificial intelligence in wealth management through a $1.4 billion takeover of US consulting firm Wealthfront, which UBS canceled in September.
A person involved in UBS's virtual reality trials said the bank is trying to find ways to enhance the digital client conversations it's already increasingly having.
"We did some experiments," the person said. "We set up virtual offices in the metaverse, we tested how we can contact customers, what it looks like, what your avatar looks like, if it really helps us.
"We're not there yet - there's still a lot of experimenting going on.
UBS has already tested augmented reality technology to give its employees the opportunity to work from home during the pandemic, recreating the environment of the trading floor.
Swiss bank Julius Baer has also pledged to invest heavily in technology over the next few years and has been experimenting with virtual reality.
The bank ran a 12-week pilot in which a group of employees held internal meetings in virtual rooms, while 200 executives recently participated in a "metaverse experience" at a global executive management conference.
"At this stage there is no outward use of this type of technology and it's really about building knowledge and understanding of the space to be ready as soon as the technology is in place and, importantly, as soon as outstanding regulatory issues have been resolved," said one person familiar with the trials.
