Swiss banking giant UBS has reorganised its wealth-management business in Asia by slashing private banker headcount in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Joseph Poon, who was head of ultra high net worth operations for south-east Asia, and Urs Grueter, who at one time was responsible for co-managing the Singapore onshore business, are among the fired employees.
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UBS, the biggest wealth manager by assets in Asia, will not replace the position vacated by Poon, media reports suggest.
UBS has been hiring people strategically in the region despite the exits. Recently it hired Tracey Woon as its vice chairman for wealth management Asia and August Hatecke as head of wealth management for South East Asia.
As part of a renewed strategy for wealth management in Asia Pacific region, JPMorgan Chase also shed 30, or 5% of headcount, at its Asia wealth management unit in April this year.
The wealth management unit of UBS has posted profit before tax of CHF557m for the first quarter of 2016, down 41% from CHF951m a year ago. Net new money for the wealth-management arm was CHF15.5bn, driven by net inflows from all regions, particularly strong flows from Asia Pacific. Net new money from ultra high net worth clients was CHF13.3bn.
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By GlobalData
