UBS' Sergio Ermotti addressed the bank's plans for his succession – including his own preferences.
The topic of replacing Sergio Ermotti, who was named CEO of UBS in 2011, flared up with a vengeance recently when investment banker Christian Meissner emerged as a reported candidate.
Ermotti, a 59-year-old Ticino native who shows little signs of slowing down, has always been coy about his own plans to step down. He has also restored UBS to rude enough health to be able to have a major say in when and how he leaves.
«I'm Not Immortal»
On Tuesday, he told journalists that he isn't leaving anytime soon – and signaled he might prefer for his successor to come from the ranks of UBS as opposed to hiring an outsider to run the bank.
«I’m not immortal. One day or another someone is gonna have to look after my succession but those changes are years away,» Ermotti said when asked how long he would like to stick around. He said it found the succession narrative entertaining: «It's a mix of fun in reading my obituary and in some cases little bit like a mosquito in the middle of a very hot summer which keeps going around and is something you'd like to get rid of.»
«Disrespectful to Team»
Ermotti said he had begun discussing his own succession the month after he was named CEO – because he viewed it as an essential part of his job. However, UBS has lost enormous depth of its internal bench to succeed Ermotti following the exits of private banking head Juerg Zeltner one year ago and investment bank boss Andrea Orcel five months ago, according to bank insiders as well as headhunters,
Since then, UBS has signaled it will stick with its preference for grooming internal candidates for the top job. «The notion that automatically an external candidate is the candidate for succession is not only wrong historically, and its proven, but also disrespectful to my team,» Ermotti said.
Ermotti rounded out his remarks by indicating that journalists are now more annoying mosquito than entertaining break: «I think for me this chapter is getting a little bit boring now, OK?,» he said.
