Singapore. UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, hired primatologist Jane Goodall’s services last week to give lessons in conservation and philanthropy to children of its clients in Singapore.

Goodall, 77, who has studied chimpanzees since 1960 in Tanzania, gave a talk on getting involved with animal welfare, human rights and other causes to 18- to 25-year-olds on June 30 as part of UBS’s program for heirs of millionaire clients.

UBS and rivals, including Credit Suisse Group, are wooing second-generation millionaires in Asia, where the wealthy outnumbered those in Europe for the first time last year.

Philanthropy has been in the limelight this year, with billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates touring Asia asking the rich to give away more money.

“Banks are expecting greater and greater generational wealth transfer, in particular in Asia,” said Justin Ong, Asia- Pacific private banking leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers. “The targeting of these individuals is seen as an important part of the strategy.”

The wealth of high-net worth people in the Asia-Pacific region climbed 12.1 percent last year to $10.8 trillion, bolstered by economic growth in China and India, according to the 2011 World Wealth Report by Capgemini and Bank of America.

Singapore may displace Switzerland as the world’s top wealth-management center by 2013, PwC said last month. read more