“It’s also clear we’re not going to expand the investment bank,” Colm said in an interview published Saturday. The added value of the bank lies in caring for wealthy and very wealthy private clients. “We have to focus on that, especially in the US.” The bank wants to attract long-term investors, especially institutional investors in the US, to buy its shares.
The bank will continue to buy back shares, but there will be no US buyouts in the near future. Separate reporting of performance targets for US regions may also be considered. “There will be no major strategic change. We also have no intention of acquiring Credit Suisse.” The bank wants to intensify its activities in Asia after the end of China’s zero-Kovid policy, as well as the USA.
“Switzerland’s core business is great,” Colm said of UBS’s core market. “But the engine is elsewhere. In a country of 8.7 million people, by definition, we can’t grow our business significantly.” He wants to make the bank the world’s most important wealth manager. “I believe that Swiss-based UBS can become the leading global player representing European interests.”
Colm also wants to simplify structures and processes within the bank. “The bank is complex and sometimes very bureaucratic,” he said.
(SDA)