In 2009 UBS admitted that it had helped its American clients to evade paying taxes. Now it is reinventing its wealth-management business through a form of shock-therapy. The CEO of UBS plans to have the wealth management division contribute half of its pretax profits by the year 2015, up from 32% at present.
In order to achieve that goal, the bank is attempting to build a reputation for its wealth management expertise. In the past the bank had depended a lot on the Swiss privacy and discretion promises to gain clients. Now UBS must compete based on investment acumen.
As part of the bank’s efforts to achieve that goal, it hired Alexander Friedman in 2011 to work on investment analysis and strategy issues. Mr. Friedman will be the Chief Investment Officer for UBS.
Related article: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-25/ubs-builds-its-investment-prowess