UBS has scooped a quintet from Morgan Stanley's Private Wealth Management division in Asia

UBS Wealth Management has hired a five-strong team in Asia from US rival Morgan Stanley, the latest in a string of hires for the Swiss bank as it seeks to tap the fast growing pool of Asian millionaires.

Peter Tung and Harry Pang join UBS as managing directors reporting to Amy Lo, head of ultra high net worth business in Asia Pacific. The bank could not confirm their exact titles at this stage.

In their previous roles, Tung was a managing director and sales manager for Taiwan in Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Management division, while Pang was an executive director and senior salesman for China in Private Wealth Management.

Currently on gardening leave, the duo are due to join UBS imminently. They bring with them three assistants from the US bank.

Morgan Stanley confirmed the departures.

The US bank has replaced Tung internally with Nick Chan, a managing director who starts soon as sales manager for Taiwan.

Chan was most recently head of talent management for PWM in Asia, which encompasses recruitment and development. He has been with Morgan Stanley PWM for five years, according to a source close to the bank.

UBS has been making aggressive strides into Asia with a number of senior hires, where the population of millionaires is expected to surpass that in the US according to the latest World Wealth Report from Merrill Lynch and CapGemini.

In April the Zurich-based bank hired Kenneth Kwok as president, Greater China, responsible for cross-selling investment banking products to the bank’s UHNW clients.

Philip Kunz was recruited from HSBC Private Bank as managing director and regional market head for South Asia in December.

Other recent appointments include Elan Cohen as managing director of the UHNW segment in South Asia and Jeremy Tan as head of the family office business for South East Asia, late last year.