UBS to cut 500 jobs in wealth unit revamp

Bloomberg

UBS Group AG expects to cut as many as 500 private banking jobs as the lender moves forward with a wealth management overhaul aimed at strengthening regional units and speeding up decision making.
As part of the revamp, UBS will split up the private banking business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, giving Caroline Kuhnert responsibility for central and eastern Europe and Ali Janoudi the Middle East and Africa. Christine Novakovic, who has led the entire region until now, will keep Western Europe, according to an internal memo from wealth management co-heads Iqbal Khan and Tom Naratil that was obtained by Bloomberg.
The changes are the latest steps in a broad reorganisation of the wealth management business since Khan came in as co-head three months ago after his acrimonious split from rival Credit Suisse Group AG. He and Naratil were tasked with devising plans to revive the business, as Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti looks for ways to maintain the bank’s edge and reinvigorate shares that have trailed rivals over the past year.
UBS rose 2.4% at 10:39 am in Zurich. The stock has gained 4.9% in the last 12 months, trailing 23% gain at Credit Suisse.
UBS slashed thousands of investment banking jobs over the past decade in a pivot toward private banking that has become a blueprint for rivals including Credit Suisse. With more firms following in its footsteps, however, competition for clients is increasing. To counter that, Khan and Naratil are looking to do more business with each client. Khan pursued a regional strategy with some success when he ran the international wealth management unit at Credit Suissese.