"I don't think either one of them is going to be as bad as you now think," Lott told the audience of 300 UBS clients and financial advisers.
Mitchell responded: "Trent, no offense, 'He won't be that bad' is not a slogan to inspire."
UBS is hoping events like these, which it plans to host in Chicago, Houston and Miami as well, will get clients more comfortable with market volatility. High cash balances can hurt returns over the long term, and weigh on wealth management firms' profits.
Many of the wealthiest UBS clients are so scarred by losses from the financial crisis that they insist on having at least 25 percent of their holdings in cash, even when they feel confident about the economy, McCann said.
"We've seen cash holdings higher than what you would traditionally think ... since 2009 on," he said. "I don't think that's a temporary phenomenon."