Appetite for investing has returned as stock markets have recovered

Net income was 2.8bn Swiss francs ($2.1bn; �1.2bn) in the three months to the end of September up from 1.6bn in the same period last year.

Driving growth have been higher charges from investment banking and fees earned by managing money for wealthy clients.

Chief financial officer Clive Standish said that it was "unusual for the third quarter to be so strong".

UBS was looking forward to "closing what has already been one of our most successful years", Mr Standish said. Profits for the first nine months of the year were 7.5bn Swiss francs, up from 5.9bn last year.

The bank's shares added almost 3% during morning trading in Zurich despite the company warning that "markets had softened somewhat" in recent weeks.

'Opening up'

UBS has seen the amount of assets it has under management increase to 2,666bn francs.

The firm said earnings from its wealth management business increased by 38% during the quarter, while investment banking profits almost doubled.

"The key thing to note is the strength of the wealth management operations and the net new money inflows," said Simon Maughan, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

"The world is opening up now to UBS. There's money coming in from the Middle East, from Asia and China."

However, one weaker area has proved to be the US where the firm's wealth management division posted a pre-tax loss of 5m francs, compared with a pre-tax profit of 94m a year earlier.