UBS AG, the world's biggest money manager, opened an office Tuesday in Nagoya to sell wealth-management services, aiming to grab a bigger share of the savings of the country's affluent.

The Zurich-based lender opened the office in Japan's third-largest economic region. It is the bank's third office here targeting wealthy customers, with the others in Osaka and Tokyo.

Overseas financial firms are expanding wealth-management operations in Japan, targeting about 1.500 quadrillion yen in assets held by savers and a growing pool of wealthy retirees. New York-based Merrill Lynch & Co. formed a private-banking venture last year with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.