UBS is enlisting a group of high-level women including a Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion to help the Swiss bank make inroads with wealthy female clients.
The Zurich-based bank said it will will set up a nine-person advisory board to help its private bank bolster efforts with women, as finews.asia has previously reported.
The most prominent representative is Maria Sharapova, who won several Grand Slam titles before being sidelined by a doping penalty.
Currently ranked 180th on the ATP tour, she spent part of her 15-month penalty taking classes at Harvard Business School and investing in digital platform Charly. She is also behind the premium candy and chocolate brand Sugarpova, and has clinched advertising deals with Tag Heuer, Nike, Evian, Avon, Porsche, Head, and American Express.
Little U.S. Presence
Should UBS' private bankers prepare to get grilled on their gender sensitivity by the tennis star? Hardly.
«The advisory board will work closely with UBS’ senior wealth management executives to scale the program, called UBS Unique,» the Swiss bank said in a statement.
Translated, that means that Sharapova and eight colleagues will be loosely affiliated with UBS, but hold no formal role nor be held to any commitments of their time or resources.
Asian Emphasis
Other representatives include prominent Asian businesswomen Jane Jie Sun, (pictured) who runs Chinese travel site Ctrip, and Olivia Lum, chairwoman and Chief Executive of Singapore-based Hyflux Group.
The focus on Singapore and China is natural for UBS, which like most private banks has found Asia its most fertile hunting ground for new clients, as Switzerland's standing as an offshore centre has faded.
Americans are poorly represented in the advisory body, underscoring the difficulty UBS has in converging its U.S. wealth management arm, run by Tom Naratil, with those of its efforts elsewhere in the world, under the aegis of Juerg Zeltner.
Swiss Network
Further appointees include Ebru Ozdemir, a prominent Turkish businesswoman, Wendy Appelbaum, the daughter of a South African tycoon who owns a vineyard, breeds racehorses, and is active in philanthropy, and Giovanna Rovati-Forlanelli, the head of Italian biotech firm Rottapharm.
Two women based in Switzerland and a gender studies expert round out the board: Ellen Ringier, a lawyer and publisher who is among Switzerland's richest women, and Angelica Kohlmann, a German healthcare investor based in Zurich, and Stony Brook gender studies professor Michael Kimmel.
