The Dutch-born CEO — widely viewed as a surprise pick when he joined two years ago — wants to harness automated tools, streamline the byzantine executive ranks and improve the company’s standing in the US, where UBS is eclipsed by local rivals. Meeting those goals requires the embrace of lower-margin robo advice via algorithms and mobile apps, not an easy ask of a breed of bankers accustomed to providing a personal touch.
Underneath UBS Group AG’s Zurich headquarters, where black Mercedes sedans drop off and retrieve their passengers, lies a zone by the elevators furnished with a cylindrical ashtray. It is here that Iqbal Khan, the powerful head of UBS’s wealth business, has been known to retreat for a subterranean smoke.
The area has become a discreet corner where Khan can take a drag on his cigarette and casually chat with colleagues. Among UBS employees, one topic of late has been the direction of the bank. From the airier confines of his third-floor office, UBS Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers has been pushing his vision of a new style of banking, one fit for the digital age.
