Benzinga - by Lekha Gupta, Benzinga Editor.
UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) shares are trading higher after the bank disclosed that it would split its top wealth management role to streamline its executive board.
UBS announced several changes to its Group Executive Board (GEB), effective 1 July 2024.
The bank appointed Iqbal Khan as the President of UBS Asia-Pacific, effective 1 September 2024, along with the co-president of the Global Wealth Management (GWM) division.
UBS also named Rob Karofsky as Co-President of UBS investment bank, head of the Americas and co-president of global wealth management alongside current wealth management.
Apart from this, UBS appointed George Athanasopoulos and Marco Valla as the Co-Presidents of the Investment Bank.
The bank stated that Ulrich Körner, CEO of Credit Suisse AG, will step down from the GEB at the end of June and retire from UBS later this year.
Also, Edmund Koh and Naureen Hassan will leave the position of President UBS Asia-Pacific (effective 1 September 2024) and Regional President UBS Americas (effective 1 July 2024), respectively.
UBS CEO Sergio P. Ermotti said, “The appointments to the Group Executive Board we are announcing today will allow us to continue to progress on our integration journey and realize the expected synergies and efficiencies, while putting even more emphasis on our long-term priorities and growth prospects, particularly in the Americas and Asia-Pacific.”
Vontobel analyst Andreas Venditti described the reshuffle ‘as more far-reaching than expected’ and added that “the new appointments put even more emphasis on our long-term priorities and growth prospects, particularly in the Americas and Asia-Pacific,” Reuters reports.
As per Reuters, Khan and Karofsky are among the top internal candidates to succeed Ermotti, who the bank has indicated could stay in charge until at least 2027.
Ermotti rejected appointing an outsider as a successor and planned to present internal candidates as he had when he had last left UBS in 2020, as per a report.
Notably, UBS’ integration with Credit Suisse is scheduled to be legally completed on Friday. Last year, in June, UBS had closed the acquisition of Credit Suisse.
Last month, UBS announced a new share buyback program worth up to $2 billion, set to commence in 2024 to enhance investor returns as the bank pursues the completion of its acquisition of Credit Suisse.
Earlier this month, UBS reported Q1 FY24 sales of $12.74 billion, surpassing estimates, and GWM witnessed net new assets of $27.4 billion, with revenues up 28% Y/Y to $6.14 billion.
According to Benzinga Pro, UBS has gained over 49% in the past year. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Avantis International Equity ETF (NYSE:AVDE) and American Century ETF Trust Avantis Responsible International Equity ETF (NYSE:AVSD).
Price Action: UBS shares are up 2.33% at $31.22 at the last check Thursday.
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