UBS, a Swiss bank, is making significant changes to its wealth-management arm in order to improve its services for ultra-wealthy clients. The bank’s new co-leaders, Rob Karofsky and Iqbal Khan, announced the establishment of a new unit called GWM Solutions, which will consolidate various client services including investment management, lending, family and institutional wealth management, and alternative investments. Yves-Alain Sommerhalder, a former Credit Suisse banker, will lead this unit from Zurich and New York.
In addition to GWM Solutions, UBS is also creating a unit called “Unified Global Alternatives,” which will bring together alternative asset-management products from both wealth and asset management businesses, such as real estate and private market investments. These changes are part of UBS’s consideration of merging parts of its asset-management unit with its wealth-management activities to reduce costs.
Wealth management is a crucial aspect of UBS’s operations, accounting for more than half of the bank’s total revenues. The split of the top wealth-management role has led to Karofsky and Khan assuming new responsibilities, positioning them as potential successors to CEO Sergio Ermotti.
Furthermore, UBS is restructuring its business units geographically. Latin America will now operate as its own business unit under the leadership of Marcello Chilov, former CEO of Credit Suisse in Brazil. In the United States, Michael Camacho, a JPMorgan banker, will join UBS as the head of U.S. global wealth management.
These changes reflect UBS’s commitment to enhancing its wealth-management services for ultra-wealthy clients and streamlining its operations to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
