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Tag: UBS

  • UBS Promotes Taiwan Wealth Executive

    UBS Promotes Taiwan Wealth Executive

    UBS has internally announced the promotion of a wealth management executive for its onshore business in Taiwan.

    Henry Su has been named business sector head of global wealth management (GWM) for the onshore Taiwan unit at UBS, sources said. In his new role, the seven market team heads in Taiwan report to Su while he reports to the head of GWM Taiwan domestic Dennis Chen.

    Su joined UBS Taiwan a decade ago as its chief of staff and was most recently its country operating officer, a role held since January 2018. Previously, Su also spent five years with consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

  • Top UBS Banker Departing

    Top UBS Banker Departing

    A banking veteran who shaped UBS’s wealth management is leaving.  Joe Stadler is leaving UBS at the end of 2023 for retirement, citing anonymous sources.

    Stadler, the architect of UBS’ family office business and once considered one of the most influential people within the world’s largest private bank, has announced his departure at a time when the business is making a comeback.

    The same anonymous source communicated that the business with rich Eastern Europeans, burdened by sanctions against Russia and under Caroline Kuhnert will be integrated into the Europe region led by Christl Novakovic. Kuhnert, however, will remain with the big bank.

    Earlier this year, UBS reorganized its global family office division by bringing it into the newly formed global family and institutional wealth (GFIW) unit under George Athanasopoulos, to combine various services including Lombard lending, trading, hedge fund services (prime brokerage) and private market activities.

    As part of the revamp, Stadler was appointed executive vice chair to global wealth management (GWM) head Iqbal Khan, effectively sidelining him.

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  • UBS Switzerland Marketing Manager Moves to Group

    UBS Switzerland Marketing Manager Moves to Group

    UBS named a new head of marketing and digital sales for its Switzerland business to replace the current manager who is moving to another role within the bank at the group level.

    After eight years as the head of marketing and digital sales for UBS Switzerland, Daniel Fischer is moving to group communications and branding starting January 1, reporting to the head of the team Marsha Askins, according to an internal memo seen by finews.com and confirmed by a UBS spokesperson.

    To replace him, UBS recruited Aydin Sahin as the new head of marketing and digital sales for UBS Switzerland, who joins on January 1, and also become a member of the business forum COO Switzerland, reporting to the COO of the Swiss unit Sabine Magri who wrote the memo.

    Sahin’s career at Commerzbank spanned 12 years, where he was jointly responsible for the company’s digitalization and growth strategy in various management positions, most recently as head of marketing & customer Intelligence at Commerzbank and Comdirect.

    The past two years have been characterized by the definition of our strategy and the start of its implementation, with clearly defined growth areas, a strong focus on digitalization and transformation, as well as the corresponding alignment of the organization. We have achieved a lot and gained excellent momentum in the market, Magri wrote the memo announcing the changes.

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  • UBS Launches New Tool for Wealthy US Clients

    UBS Launches New Tool for Wealthy US Clients

    UBS launches a new tool providing ultra-high-net-worth clients in the US with a consolidated real-time overview of their entire portfolio.

    A new wealth analysis and reporting platform in collaboration with IT companies Addepar and Mirador is the latest fintech offering from UBS. The new tool provides a streamlined, real-time summary of clients’ entire portfolios of various asset classes, Switzerland’s largest bank said in a statement.

    The tool also gives UBS financial advisors access to analytics enabling them to efficiently monitor their clients’ investment results, cash flows, and value. An added benefit is they will also be able to examine the outlook and risks in their client’s portfolios.

    In announcing the new offering John Mathews, head of private wealth management at UBS, said we recognize that our advisors need an intuitive, visual, and modern offering that will provide a complete picture of their clients’ full portfolio – from stocks and bonds to alternative investments and their private art collections.

    As part of Addepar’s partner ecosystem, Mirador’s financial data technology experts will support UBS’s advisors with data management, custom visualization, and tailored reporting, as well as operations and system maintenance.

    In October, UBS launched a new digital wealth management service platform to tap into the Chinese wealth management sector. The mobile app, WE.UBS offers financial planning built on Big Data and views from the bank’s chief investment office.

    In the US, however, the big bank backed out of buying digital wealth manager Wealthfront last September. Following the collapse of the deal, UBS said it would pursue an organic approach to bringing the next generation of wealth management clients into the UBS fold.

    We are back to our organic plans,» UBS Group chief financial officer (CFO) Sarah M Youngwood told an audience at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference, according to a report on the advisorhub portal.

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  • UBP Reshuffles Asia Leadership

    UBP Reshuffles Asia Leadership

    UBP has reshuffled its top leadership in the region with new appointments to lead the North and South Asia business.

    UBP appoints Ivan Wong as its new regional head of North Asia and Hong Kong branch chief executive, according to an internal memo, effective November 14 and subject to regulatory approval.

    Wong is a 35-year wealth management veteran and most recently worked at HSBC Private Banking as its co-head of North Asia.

    Wong will replace the current North Asia head Eric Morin who will relocate to Singapore to become the bank’s regional head of Southeast Asia and the branch CEO for the city-state, subject to regulatory approval.

    Morin succeeds Ranjit Khanna who will step down after more than six years in the role. According to the memo, Khanna will assist with transitioning his responsibilities and UBP will also «work with him to explore new opportunities for him within the bank’s wider network».

    When contacted, a spokesperson for the bank confirmed the contents of the memo.

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  • UBS Names New Member to Executive Board

    UBS Names New Member to Executive Board

    UBS names Damian Vogel to its executive board and becomes chief risk officer, replacing the current CRO who is stepping down to focus on academia and photography.

    Damian Vogel succeeds Christian Bluhm as chief risk officer at UBS and will join the executive board effective the beginning of May, according to a statement from UBS Tuesday. The two will work closely together to ensure a smooth transition, UBS went on to say.

    Vogel currently serves as chief risk officer for the global wealth management (GWM) business and joined UBS in 2010, having services in several risk-related leadership roles in GWM, personal and corporate banking, and the Swiss business.

    Generally, when such announcements of executive changes are made, there tends to be a comment about «spending more time with family» or something equally banal. In the case of Bluhm, he is stepping down to focus (no pun intended) on his photography business. In addition, he is looking into opportunities in academia.

    Bluhm was the Group’s CFO since 2016 and pushed the department to embrace advanced analytics, digitalization, and AI.

    The re-making of the twelve-member group executive board under CEO Ralph Hamers continues to progress. Sarah Youngwood was appointed chief financial officer in May and Barbara Levi chief legal officer last November.

    Appointed under Hamers’ predecessor Sergio Ermotti are investment bank chief Robert Karofsky, asset management head Suni Harford, GWM chief Iqbal Khan, compliance officer Markus Ronner and Asia Pacific head, Edmund Koh.

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  • UBS Issues World’s First Publicly Traded Digital Bond

    UBS Issues World’s First Publicly Traded Digital Bond

    UBS launches the world’s first digital bond that can be traded on both blockchain-based and traditional exchanges. UBS is issuing a digital bond for the first time. With a volume of more than 375 million Swiss francs ($371 million), the security can be traded on both traditional exchanges and as a digital bond on the blockchain exchange SDX, the Swiss bank announced Thursday.

    The digital bond has the same structure, legal status, and rating as a traditional UBS unsubordinated unsecured bond, according to the statement. However, it is the first digital bond from a banking institution in the world to be listed, traded, and settled on a regulated digital exchange.

    Investors can invest in a digital bond regardless of whether they have blockchain infrastructure themselves, removing a hurdle on the way to introducing new disruptive technologies that can make bond issuance faster, more efficient, and easier, UBS said.

    SIX Group’s digital exchange SDX (SIX Digital Exchange) launched in the fall of last year after years of preliminary work. Its first product was a digital bond issued by SIX Group itself

    Since SDX digital investment products are traded and held via the house bank, investors hardly feel any difference compared to conventional products. Officials say the immediate advantage of SDX is primarily in the post-trade area, where trade settlement is instantaneous and without counterparty risk, thanks to so-called atomic swaps.

    With conventional exchanges such as SIX, it takes an average of two days before a trading transaction is settled with the transfer of the securities and the transfer of the purchase amount.

    Announcing the new security, Beatriz Martin, UBS Group Treasurer, said We are proud to leverage distributed ledger technology to launch the inaugural UBS digital bond. This shows our commitment to supporting the development of new financial market infrastructure. UBS is committed to using technology not just as an enabler, but to making it a true differentiator for UBS.

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  • At UBS A Machine Knows What Clients Want

    At UBS A Machine Knows What Clients Want

    UBS is launching one online service after another in Switzerland, with a system discreetly analyzing customer behavior in the background. Now, its digital efforts are themselves under scrutiny.

    New digital offerings every quarter is what Sabine Magri, chief operating officer (COO) of UBS’s Swiss business, promised in May when UBS launched its purely digital product line Key4. Since then, it has been rolling out new offerings in its home country. After pension and corporate client product launches, an investment solution went live this month.

    With UBS expanding its digital offerings to clients, their behavior is registered on the new channels as inputs for a system working behind the scenes. This approach analyzes customer behavior and turns it into recommendations. Advisors receive tailored suggestions as to which products they can offer their customers.

    Next Best Action» has been operating in UBS Switzerland’s wealth management business for about a year and is now being used in the retail business with private clients. In many cases, the tool is based on classic data analyses following simple rules not requiring a complex model. Nevertheless, it makes use of machine learning. The longer the system runs and the more data it can tap and make tailored recommendations.

    These opportunities are then brought to client advisors through the bank’s internal interface. For now, this is a thought exercise, which the bankers can use if they think it appropriate. Notably, recommendations do not appear on the customer’s smartphone app but take a detour via the advisors.

    In an environment where bank customers are generally reluctant to make transactions, the machine’s suggestions could soon gain influence. This means walking a tightrope not only for UBS but also for all other Swiss banks that specifically evaluate customer engagement.

    This is not only because the huge amounts of data have only just begun to be made usable for business. Unlike search engines and social media platforms, which use highly sophisticated algorithms to spy on user behavior and send out targeted advertising, banks are subject to special rules, both from a regulatory perspective and because of the special relationship of trust.

    Former UBS Chairman Axel Weber, warned in 2017 that customers should not feel like they are being spied on. Otherwise, there would be a rapid loss of trust.

    His successor Colm Kelleher is now having his say on the digital strategy. It was rumored he was the one who pushed for pulling the plug on the acquisition of American robo-advisor Wealthfront in September. Through Wealthfront, UBS CEO Ralph Hamers wanted to reach the mass of wealthy customers in the United States.

    That makes Switzerland all the more important as a test bench for the group’s digital transformation. Over the past nine months, UBS spent over 1.7 billion francs on operations, the lion’s share going toward upgrading technology. The bank cut back staff and real estate after closing 44 branches over the last year, another measure of the success of the digital transformation.

    It seems to be working. Over 74 percent of UBS clients in Switzerland were active on the bank’s digital channels at the end of September, with nearly 58 percent using smartphones. It is no coincidence the bank highlights these figures every quarter. The bank’s progress with digitalization plays a key role in its stock market valuation. Having a machine that knows what customers want could be decisive.

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  • UBS Widens Affluent Net in China

    UBS Widens Affluent Net in China

    UBS continues to expand its ambitions in the region’s affluent market by launching a new digital wealth management platform in mainland China.

    UBS has launched a digital-led wealth management platform for affluent clients in mainland China through its wholly-owned onshore entity UBS Fund Distribution (Shenzhen) Company Limited.

    The mobile app, WE.UBS, provides financial planning based on big data and views from the bank’s chief investment office. The product shelf includes local and global investment solutions in collaboration with other international asset managers in mainland China including UBS SDIC Fund Management, Invesco Great Wall Fund Management, and HSBC Jintrust Fund Management.

    A notable feature of the offering is the ability for clients to complete onboarding in as fast as seven minutes with just an ID card, a selfie and a couple of clicks.

    According to APAC co-head of wealth management Amy Lo, the new offering targets individuals in mainland China with a net worth of $150,000 to $1 million – a significantly lower minimum level for the Swiss private bank, which has been traditionally focused on millionaires and beyond.

    In August, the bank also introduced a new private clients team dedicated to individuals in Greater China with $1 million to $5 million. It aims to double the number of clients in the segment over the next three years.

    As a global wealth manager, we know that one size does not fit all. We have the critical size and scale to specialize and tailor-make different product platforms for different types of clients.

    Based in Shenzhen, UBS FS will initially focus on acquiring affluent clients in the broader 11-city Greater Bay Area megalopolis with over 86 million residents and a GDP of 12.6 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion).

    Demand for professional wealth management services delivered digitally is growing exponentially in China. Following our launch in Shenzhen, we will focus on clients in the GBA before broadening out to other cities,» said Iqbal Khan, president of global wealth management at UBS.

    China is leading the way in wealth creation and digital transformation globally. As the world’s largest wealth manager, our goal is to be the leading global wealth manager and the #1 digital-first wealth advisor for our targeted clients in China, added APAC president Edmund Koh.

  • UBS Strategy Defies Second Major Crisis

    UBS Strategy Defies Second Major Crisis

    At UBS, the focus on wealth management was born out of necessity during the financial crisis. One global crisis later, that strategy is helping it leave global competitors behind.

    Lower profits, less money invested by clients money, and fewer bonuses for advisors. At first blush, the third quarter has not been very promising for UBS’s core wealth management business. But according to reports from within the bank, the team around Iqbal Khan, the sole head of the Global Wealth Management (GWM) division since the beginning of October, is patting itself on the back.

    It delivered a pre-tax profit of $1.453 billion, a scant 4 percent below the previous year’s quarter, and 14 percent better than the analyst consensus. The division contributed the lion’s share of the group’s pre-tax profit of $2.323 billion.

    By contrast, Wall Street banks suffered from an investment banking slump in the third quarter, hamstrung by higher interest rates, the war in Ukraine, and soaring energy prices. Only now are JP Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs turning their attention to asset management and the steady returns that this business promises.

    In wealth management, UBS has emerged from adversity to become the world’s largest provider of such services. After horrendous investment banking losses from bets on toxic credit securities and a government bailout in 2008, then Chairman Axel Weber and former CEO Sergio Ermotti undertook the task of trimming the institution entirely to private banking for the world’s rich starting in 2011.

    The next leadership generation is managing this strategic legacy quite skillfully. UBS’s pretax profit has never fallen below $2 billion in the past nine quarters.

    The GWM division’s relationship managers demonstrated they could keep their wealthy clientele in line, an important consideration in times of turmoil to stay the course. While clients were de-leveraging and liquidating loans on assets, as in Asia, the bank was able to attract deposits and new money which generated fees. Absent that, like in Switzerland, UBS was able to increase cash deposits and loans, an indication clients did not leave the bank, but rather took advantage of other services.

    To be sure, not all is peaches and cream and there are still some downsides. The GWM division is not generating enough profit, with the bank’s management setting the pre-tax profit target growth between 10 to 15 percent. The result so far this year is a 7 percent decline. Likewise, the decline in fee-generating assets is not good news. After all, a private bank that functions as a mere vault for the cash of the super-rich is of little interest from the point of view of investors. Moreover, the ambition of increasingly serving smaller- to mid-sized assets was dealt a blow with the exit from the Wealthfront deal in the US.

    That is a cautionary development that UBS management should not bask in its achievements, a lurking danger. The success of the GWM division is fueling speculation that division head Khan is already set as the next UBS boss. A recent detailed story suggested palace intrigues at Switzerland’s largest bank, with Group CEO Ralph Hamers seen as a victim, although it is not least thanks to his refraining from major interventions on the operational side of the business that it is running at full speed.

    At the same time, the bank can by no means afford to slow down in its digitization efforts, the pet project of Hamers. UBS’s rise to become the world’s largest private bank is largely due to the effective cooperation of the «Webermotti» team. The new leadership in the form of Chairman Colm Kelleher, CEO Hamers, and GWM division head Khan might be well advised to emulate their predecessors in this respect.

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  • UBS Profits Lower on All Fronts

    UBS Profits Lower on All Fronts

    Faced with a variety of challenges, UBS saw profits contract in all of its major units. Switzerland’s largest bank booked a net profit of $1.733 billion in the third quarter, helped by rising interest rates around the globe and expense controls contributing to the solid performance in the third quarter. Nevertheless, profits are 24 percent lower than in the same period a year ago, UBS said in a statement.

    Although pre-tax profit fell 19 percent from a year ago to $2.3 billion, it was the ninth consecutive quarter they were above $2 billion.

    The macroeconomic and geopolitical environment has become increasingly complex. Clients remain concerned about persistently high inflation, elevated energy prices, the war in Ukraine, and (the) residual effects of the pandemic. In Switzerland, many of our retail and small business clients will also be impacted by disruptions across the rest of Europe,» said UBS CEO Ralph Hamers.

    On a diluted basis, earnings per share were $0.52 in the third quarter after $0.61 in the second and $0.63 in the third quarter of 2021.

    Pre-tax profits in Global Wealth Management (GWM) were $1.5 billion, down 4 percent from the same year-ago period, while falling 7 percent during the first nine months of the year. The results are well below UBS guidance of 10-to-15 percent for the cycle

    Despite the challenges, the world’s largest wealth manager could still attract net new money. In the third quarter, the GWM unit took in $17.1 billion of net new money, bringing the total to  $36.9 billion for the first nine months of the year.

    Fee-generating assets fell to $1,182 trillion in the third quarter, marking a 5 percent contraction from the $1.244 trillion in the second quarter and a drop of 16 percent from the $1.412 trillion a year ago.

    GWM revenues fell 4 percent compared to a year ago to $4.8 billion, which included a $133 million gain from the domestic wealth management business in Spain and $86 million from the disposal of UBS Swiss Financial Advisors. There was also a $100 million gain from the sale of its domestic wealth management business in Austria.

    Central banks raising their interest rates helped the unit as well which saw net interest income increase 23 percent, even though overall deposits decreased, driven by higher deposit revenues, the result of rising interest rates.

    In the Asset Management unit, net new money was $17.9 billion.

    The bank bought back $1.0 billion of its shares during the third quarter, bringing the year-to-date total to $4.3 billion, with a total buyback of $5.5 billion planned for 2022.

    UBS reported a Tier 1 capital ratio of 14.4 for the third quarter, down from 14.9 a year ago, although slightly higher than the 14.2 in the second quarter. It had a CET 1 leverage ratio of 4.51 percent, with both third-quarter figures exceeding guidance of around 13 percent and above 3.7 percent respectively.

    The bank’s return on CET 1 capital was 15.5 percent in the quarter and 17.8 percent through the first nine months of the year, within the guidance range of 15 to 18 percent.

    The number of full-time employees (FTEs) stood at 72,009 at the end of the third quarter, up from 71,294 in the second quarter, and higher than the same quarter a year ago when the number of FTEs was 71,427.

    Despite the higher headcount, personnel costs fell by $282 million to $4.2 billion, driven by lower compensation for financial advisors.

    UBS expects that the muted private client sentiment in activity evident in the third quarter may continue in the fourth quarter in the face of myriad economic and geopolitical challenges.

    Lower asset values will hurt UBS’s recurring net fee income, while the weak client sentiment may affect net new assets in the asset-gathering business. On the other hand, higher interest rates are expected to positively impact net interest income.

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  • Signs of Slowing at UBS

    Signs of Slowing at UBS

    Over the past two weeks, the balance sheets of major US banks have provided clear indicators of where international banking is headed. It is unlikely that UBS will be able to escape the global market trend.

    Rising interest rates and the continued weakness of financial markets will have shaped the course of business at UBS in the third quarter. Yet, the developments are partly contradictory.

    While in global wealth management, the higher interest margin is expected to have a positive impact, weakening asset valuations might weigh on total assets under management.

    As recently as September, wealth management head Iqbal Khan spoke of positive development in net new money inflows in the third quarter. He referred to the slowdown in the second quarter as an “anomaly.” The bank set a target of increasing net inflows of fee-generating assets by more than five percent over the cycle.

    The slump in mergers and acquisitions and significantly lower issuance activity are also likely to have weighed on investment banking at UBS. ZKB analyst Michael Klien expects profits to slump by around 60 percent in this area.

    Profits in asset management and personal & corporate banking are also likely to be significantly lower than in the same period last year, although the latter is expected to show the smallest drop. Provisions for credit risks, which have grown due to the economic trend and rising interest rates, are still variable.

    It will be interesting to see how new offerings such as Key4 or the Circle One platform launched in Asia are received by customers.

    At the bank’s half-year results, CEO Ralph Hamers confirmed its outlook, saying that the growing uncertainty caused by the Ukraine war, energy prices, inflation and rising interest rates would likely affect customer activity.

    The bank is likely to stick to its strategy of reducing costs and digitalization. Technology is needed to improve both the interaction with customers and the bank’s own way of working.

  • UBS Secures New Office Space in Hong Kong

    UBS Secures New Office Space in Hong Kong

    Switzerland’s largest bank will lease 250,000 square feet of new office space in Hong Kong outside the traditional central business district.

    Swiss banking giant UBS will lease 250,000 square feet of new office space in Hong Kong, according to a statement by Sun Hung Kai, the developer of the property. According to them, UBS, as the first anchor tenant, will lease the top nine floors of the tallest tower in the West Kowloon terminus project, which connects Hong Kong and mainland China via high-speed rail.

    The project is expected to be completed by 2025 and UBS is expected to occupy the new premises in early 2026. The Swiss bank plans to relocate staff from four current locations in Hong Kong, including its six-floor main office at IFC, the city’s second-tallest building.

    The new office is located across the harbor from Hong Kong island, where the main central business district is based, and rent is estimated to be around half of that paid by IFC tenants. In addition, it sits atop the high-speed rail station that should keep travel from Hong Kong to southern Guangzhou to under an hour, which is ideal for the bank’s Greater Bay Area growth strategy.

    We are excited to be moving to the workplace of the future with state-of-the-art infrastructure that brings together and empowers all of our UBS colleagues in Hong Kong under one roof, said UBS’s APAC co-head of wealth management and Hong Kong chief executive

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  • UBS Hit with Another US Fine

    UBS Hit with Another US Fine

    Switzerland’s largest bank gets fined in the US for violating short-selling regulations. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which regulates US-based brokerages, is fining UBS Securities $2.5 million for violating short-selling regulations over nine years, it said in a statement issued Monday.

    FINRA, which is overseen by the Securities Exchange Commission, found that UBS did not close out at least 5,300 positions in a timely enough fashion between 2009 and 2018, routing or executing more than 73,000 security short sales without first borrowing or arranging to borrow the shares. That meant that the regulator’s close-out requirements were not satisfied.

    Although UBS conducted annual reviews of its systems, it failed to identify the improper treatment of shares associated with long-selling activities by clients.

    Switzerland’s largest bank also failed to detect red flags present in its books and records that should have indicated systems failures that showed certain buy-in orders as limit orders, according to the regulator.

    UBS consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings without admitting or denying the charges.

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  • UBS and Zurich Strengthen Partnership

    UBS and Zurich Strengthen Partnership

    UBS and Zurich Insurance are building on their collaboration with a new product aimed at small to mid-sized companies.

    Zurich is offering UBS clients insurance solutions via the bank’s e-banking, addressing the needs of small to mid-sized companies as these mature, the partners said in a statement Monday.

    Some companies will go from having a capital deposits account with mandatory accident insurance and occupational benefits insurance to requiring insurance for leased equipment, for example.

    In the case that they expand abroad, these companies will go on open a foreign currency account and might need to add international insurance coverage, the statement said.

    The cooperation guarantees full data protection, with neither of the entities passing bank-specific data or insurance-specific information to each other.

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