UBS to cut jobs across business
UBS has confirmed that it expects to lose 350 staff from its global asset management division as part of its well-publicised cost-cutting programme.
When it reported its second quarter results in July, group chief executive Oswald Grübel said the group was looking to save between CHF1.5bn (£1.15bn, $1.9bn) and CHF2bn in the coming two or three years.
Today it updated its position by saying these plans include a headcount reduction of 3,500 worldwide which will include some redundancies as well as natural turnover.
Of the expected 3,500 staff reductions, approximately 10% will come from the global asset management division which includes its fund management business across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Switzerland and Europe as well as a global sovereign markets group and a number of back office functions.
The company also intends to cut costs by CHF550m through restructuring, with CHF450m worth of cuts being made in the second half of this year, the vast majority in the third quarter. The global asset management group will suffer 10% of these cuts.
Elsewhere, 45% of the headcount reduction will come from the investment bank (and 55% of the restructuring cost cuts), 35% from wealth management and the Swiss bank (30% of costs), and a further 10% from wealth management in the Americas (5% of costs).
The actual number of redundancies is still subject to employee consultation as required under the applicable local rules.