UBS to restructure unit catering to the super rich

Bloomberg

UBS Group AG plans to restructure the unit that serves the bank’s top billionaire clients in the first sweeping changes under its new co-head of key wealth management Iqbal Khan.
Khan and co-head Tom Naratil are seeking to break apart the ultra high net worth unit led by Joseph Stadler and move some less rich clients into the regional divisions, people with knowledge of the matter said. Stadler will head a new unit that takes the billionaire clients with more complex needs and combines them with the Global Family Office, a joint venture with the investment bank, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private.
Khan — who joined after an acrimonious split with Credit Suisse Group AG in October — was charged by Ermotti with devising a plan within 60 days of his appointment to bring greater profits to wealth management. So far he’s indicated that UBS could make “quick wins” by increasing lending that it makes across the division, a strategy that Khan used at his former employer. The revamp of global wealth management is expected to be incorporated in the bank’s strategy update planned for January.
UBS set up the business with the ultra rich as a separate division within wealth management in 2010, when Juerg Zeltner was at the helm. The rationale at the time was to give clients better access to the investment bank and asset management divisions and offer them a broad range of services normally reserved for institutional clients.
The move saw former JPMorgan Chase & Co banker Stadler steadily gain in power. He’s run the division since its set up, pulling in ultra clients from Europe, Asia and Switzerland and gained additional responsibility in 2018 when UBS merged its two wealth management arms.