UBS will remain a leading player, even though strategies of financial institutions are becoming increasingly similar, Alex Krauer told reporters on the sidelines of the 29th International Management Symposium here.

In the wake of heavy losses last year at their investment-banking units, many of the world's leading banks have said they want to play it safe and focus on profitable, low-risk asset-management business.

"One could argue that this confirms you are on the right track," the chairman of Europe's largest bank said. But it also means "the winners will no longer be those with the best strategy, but the best qualified."

UBS is competing with very strong financial institutions, particularly in onshore markets like Germany and the U.K., Mr. Krauer said.

"Size in this competition willbe important," because of economies of scale in an industry in which technology plays an important role, he said. UBS has "the critical mass" to meet this challenge, he said, and its objective is to "grow and develop from within."

Thus, while he wouldn't rule out more acquisitions, they "wouldn't be big deals, but [targets] that would complement UBS's strategy."

With ever more financial institutions following a similar strategy, "margins are coming under pressure," he said. Likewise, "the question of fees is clearly on the table," he said, referring to new low-fee securities products and services offered by Swiss rivals Credit Suisse Group and Zurich Financial Services.

Small investors have long been a customer segment that Swiss financial institutions tried to ignore or even avoid by levy ing prohibitively high fees, but some established asset managers have now started to move into that market. This client segment "has become a moving target," Mr. Krauer said.

Still, UBS won't rush into thatbusiness, but rather will "assess and evaluate case by case" any new segment.

For the time being, Mr. Krauer said, UBS's biggest challenge is to complete the integration of Swiss Bank Corp. and Union Bank of Switzerland, the two banks that merged to form the group last year.