ZURICH (AP) -- Credit Suisse Group on Thursday detailed plans to expand its private banking operations and hire about 1,000 staff over the next two years.

The move is in sharp contrast to competitors such as cross-town rival UBS AG who are downsizing operations -- mostly in their investment bank units -- in the wake of huge write-downs linked to the subprime mortgage meltdown and under the threat of a looming U.S. recession.

"The long-term growth prospects for wealth managers remains intact," said Walter Berchtold, chief executive of Credit Suisse's private banking division.

Despite ongoing market jitters, emerging economies such as China, India and Russia are set to boost growth in the sector, Berchtold said. "Credit Suisse is well positioned to face challenges and to outperform its competitors," he said.

Credit Suisse, which has booked only limited write-downs on its subprime holdings, already has substantial private banking operations. It expects to grow this business as it profits from its so-called One Bank strategy.

The strategy, which offers private bank and investment bank services, was launched under the bank's former chief executive, Oswald Gruebel, and is fiercely backed by the new CEO, Brady Dougan, who sat on the Credit Suisse management board when the strategy was hatched in late 2005.

At the end of September 2007, Credit Suisse had about 600,000 wealth management clients and assets under management of about 835 billion Swiss francs, or $759 billion. The bank expects net new asset growth of above 6 percent annually in the years to come. Between 2004 and 2007, the figure hovered between 6 percent and 8 percent.

"This is a move in the right direction," said Javier Lodeiro, an analyst at Bank Sal. Oppenheim in Zurich, who has a "buy" rating on the stock. "The expansion allows Credit Suisse to reduce its dependence on the volatile investment banking business and rely on more stable income from the private bank," he said.

Investment banks, in contrast to private banks, have a cyclical earning stream, as their income depends more on trading shares and bonds and on fees from services in the merger and acquisitions arena.

In times of recession or general economic weakness, investment banks often struggle to generate profit and are prone to post losses. Private banks, meanwhile, are generally considered to have better cushion from the ups and downs of the economy due to the more defensive nature of their business.