As part of its ongoing commitment to service excellence for both plan sponsors and participants, UBS Wealth Management Americas, a division of UBS AG, introduced two new exciting features to its Equity Plan Advisory Services (EPAS) offering: enhanced cash awards functionality and the UBS One Source Mirror.

These enhancements are being launched right on the heels of recent innovative releases, including the Knowledge Center, an insights-driven employee education portal, plan reporting enhancements and the redesigned Participant Inquiry tool, which, based on extensive usability studies, was revamped in order to streamline the corporate administrative platform.

Supporting a critical award type

Cash awards may be paid in either a lump sum payment or based on performance measures such as stock price; some have time-based vesting schedules or associated performance conditions. Companies issue them to address the complexities associated with other award types, such as share dilution concerns and country-specific requirements.

"Cash awards are an important part of the compensation issued by companies," said Michael Barry, head of UBS Equity Plan Advisory Services. "To meet growing demand, EPAS enhanced our functionality from being able to settle a single cash award transaction in either cash only or stock only, to being able to settle in a mix of both. We believe UBS is the only major provider that offers this as a core product with flexible delivery functionality."

Making it easier to help participants

UBS also launched the UBS One Source Mirror, an exciting new feature on the online portal for participants that enables UBS Financial Advisors and company plan administrators to simultaneously view and track what participants see while they are navigating within UBS One Source. Mirror users may navigate independently throughout the site at the same time as participants, helping those users guide participants through the precise steps that need to be followed to, for example, quickly and correctly enter a transaction or locate a statement.

"The feature we believe clients will like the most is the 'Navigate to User' button, which will automatically redirect them to the very same page that the participant is viewing, giving them the ability to follow the participant in real-time and better service them overall," said Barry.

The UBS One Source Mirror will streamline the process of aiding participants, saving time and improving efficiency.

EPAS continues to evolve its technology to optimize the client experience. The business is currently developing additional exciting new features including capabilities allowing participants to view accounts in multiple currencies, and a tool that will allow plan sponsors to better model and forecast. These enhancements along with several others are due out later this year.

A leader in the business

UBS Equity Plan Advisory Services currently serves more than 150 companies representing one million-plus participants in over 150 countries, delivering customized solutions and providing access to advice to all plan participants. UBS Equity Plan Advisory Services provides both partial and full plan administrative services, offering customized plan administration based on specific company needs.

Notes for Editors

About UBS Wealth Management Americas

UBS Wealth Management Americas provides advice-based solutions and banking services through financial advisors who deliver a fully integrated set of products and services specifically designed to address the needs of ultra high net worth and high net worth individuals and families. It includes the domestic US business, the domestic Canadian business and international business booked in the US.

About UBS AG

UBS Financial Services Inc. parent company, UBS AG draws on its 150-year heritage to serve private, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland. Its business strategy is centered on its pre-eminent global wealth management businesses and its leading universal bank in Switzerland. Together with a client-focused Investment Bank and a strong, well-diversified Global Asset Management business, UBS will expand its premier wealth management franchise and drive further growth across the Group.

UBS AG and its subsidiaries are present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in more than 50 countries, with about 35% of its employees working in the Americas, 36% in Switzerland, 17% in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 12% in Asia Pacific. UBS employs about 60,000 people around the world. Its shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).