REUTERS/Michael Buholzer

UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti.

• UBS' wealth management unit is rolling out changes to its equity compensation plan services and digital offerings that could compete with Morgan Stanley's Solium tool.
• The move highlights key themes underpinning the world of wealth: technology used by advisers and customers alike is rapidly changing, and the fees for many services are quickly heading to zero.
• Players from traditional wealth managers to new robo-adviser entrants are competing in an increasingly crowded space, and growing workplace wealth offerings is gaining steam at the big banks.
• UBS' plans come on the heels of a shuffle across its wealth management unit's executive ranks, as well as a shakeup within its investment bank.
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UBS' wealth management unit is rolling out changes to its equity compensation plan's services and digital offerings, a move that comes months after Morgan Stanley's deal to buy cloud-powered equity administrative platform Solium Capital.

Clients using the Swiss firm's equity compensation plan, along with those clients' employees, will be able to see their equity awards and personal finances joined together, regardless of whether those accounts are held outside of UBS. More than 800,000 participants across 180 companies use the plan.

The move to enhance the service highlights several key themes underpinning the wealth industry's evolution: technology used by advisers and customers alike is improving rapidly, and fees are falling across many wealth management platforms.

All the while, players from traditional wealth managers to new robo-adviser entrants like Betterment and Wealthfront are competing in an increasingly crowded ecosystem, and workplace wealth offerings are gaining steam at big banks.

Read more: Tech is now essential in the battle to recruit and keep wealth talent. Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley execs gave us their pitch.

"As the workplace continues to evolve, we know the demand for simplicity and affordability is top of mind," Michael Barry, UBS head of workplace wealth services, said in a statement on Wednesday.

The firm's wealth unit is also now offering flat trading commissions for their clients using the equity compensation plan, including a fee as low as zero for US equity trades through that plan. And personal finance tools will now track those clients' spending and saving, as well as offer the ability to set and monitor budgets.

UBS is also now offering a digital advice platform to those clients, combining UBS research with technology to guide clients on their investments. The efforts come as the firm is doubling down on growing its wealth management business, the world's largest, and one often considered a relatively stable one at the wirehouses.

Read more: UBS has a new group to help advisers working with the mega-rich as part of a plan to rake in $70 billion in assets over 3 years

Sizing up the competition

As one of UBS' main competitors in wealth management, Morgan Stanley made a big bet on wealth-tech earlier this year, when it said it would buy Solium for $900 million with the hopes of adding Solium's existing customers at a range of start-ups and other companies to its wealth management business. That deal closed in May.

Goldman Sachs has also made inroads in the workplace wealth space - that is, offering employee financial planning services like guidance on retirement and stock options - with its Ayco business.

UBS' plans come on the heels of an announced shuffle across its wealth management unit's executive ranks.

Its co-president of global wealth management, Martin Blessing, is stepping down and will be succeeded by Iqbal Khan, a former Credit Suisse executive, effective October 1. UBS has also planned a shakeup within its investment bank, according to multiple media reports.