Wealth management firm Vontobel has agreed to acquire UBS Swiss Financial Advisers (SFA), based in Zurich, for an undisclosed sum.
The wealth firm will combine SFA with its subsidiary Vontobel Swiss Wealth Advisors (VSWA) to expand its existing business serving north American wealth management clients.
Swiss-domiciled VSWA provides investments solutions for US and qualified Canadian investors looking for “geographic diversification”.
SFA has CHF7.2bn (£6bn, $8bn, €7bn) in assets under management. At completion, the combined companies will hit AUM of more than CHF10bn.
The M&A deal is expected to finalise in Q3 2022.
‘Major step’
said Georg Schubiger, global head of wealth management at Vontobel and chairman of VSWA, said: “This transaction is reflective of our confidence in the US market and our ongoing strategic growth efforts in the region. This is a major step toward making Vontobel a global name that serves sophisticated clients around the world and builds toward our goal of increasing US client revenue and overall assets under management.”
Tom Naratil, co-president of UBS Global Wealth Management and president of UBS Americas, added: “We are pleased to partner with Vontobel, a leading global investment firm that’s client focused and committed to excellence.
“This acquisition not only ensures UBS’s US clients continue to have access to a Swiss-based money management firm, but it also simplifies our business structure and enables us to focus on core activities with scale in line with our strategic priorities.”
