ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss private bank and asset manager Vontobel has had a strong start to the year, Chief Executive Zeno Staub said at the group's annual general meeting on Wednesday.

"We achieved a strong quarterly result," Staub said in a statement, referring to the first quarter. "Our performance in the first few days of the second quarter has also inspired us with confidence about the future."

Advised client assets grew 18 percent to a record 189.4 billion Swiss francs ($196.21 billion) at end-March, the bank said.

($1 = 0.9653 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, editing by John Revill)