Wealthy clients switch from dollar to alternatives and China – UBS

Global asset management company UBS has discovered that its wealthy clients have decided to abandon the dollar and related assets in favor of investing in more alternative types such as gold and cryptocurrencies.

According to a Chinese media report, Amy Lo, co-head of the Asian asset management division of UBS Group, said that more and more wealthy investors are leaning towards alternative, as well as Chinese assets, than ever before.

Lo stated that alternative assets such as gold and cryptocurrencies have become very popular recently in light of the economic instability caused by Trump’s general trade tariffs.

According to Lo, UBS investors have started to abandon the US dollar, bonds, treasuries and other dollar-backed assets due to economic uncertainty. Instead, they started looking for safe haven assets that are less affected by trade tensions.

She reports that investors have begun to diversify their assets, which were previously “fully focused on the United States,” into a set of other investment instruments. In addition, investors have also begun to invest in the Chinese yuan and other yuan-backed assets to avoid dollar dominance.

The latest data shows that in early to mid‑May 2025, the Chinese yuan was ahead of the US dollar.

According to Reuters, on May 6, the yuan exchange rate reached a six-month high of 7.2169 per dollar, and on May 13 it was worth about 7.201 per dollar. Over the same period, the US dollar index declined from a recent peak of about 101.79 to 100.63 by May 14, reflecting a 0.37% drop on the day.

On the other hand, Bitcoin recently crossed the $105,000 threshold after the US and China agreed to a 90-day pause on high trade tariffs, drastically reducing them. Meanwhile, in April last year, gold reached a new all-time high of $3,390 amid geopolitical tensions.