UBS is hiring a well-known City figure and former adviser to the Bank of England's head Mark Carney for its going-green push. His most pressing order of business is a foundering stock price.
The Swiss bank is naming Huw van Steenis as its head of investor relations as well as chair of a new sustainable finance committee, effective September 2, it said in a statement on Friday. Van Steenis is a veteran of the City who is well known to analysts: he worked as one for Morgan Stanley, covering financial services including UBS and Credit Suisse, until 2016.
More recently, van Steenis did a brief stint as Schroders' head of strategy and also advised Bank of England governor Mark Carney on finance's future. He will play a similar role at UBS by acting as an adviser on key topics facing financial services, the bank said. He reports to CEO Sergio Ermotti and finance boss Kirt Gardner.
Sustainability Role
In the investor job, van Steenis replaces Caroline Stewart, who became finance chief at UBS' investment bank in January. He is being hired as a global managing director, an elite cadre of UBS' top 100 bankers who report directly to top management.
In addition to this role, van Steenis will oversee a committee of senior UBS bankers already involved in the Swiss bank's push for more sustainability. The group will ensure UBS ties its bank-wide efforts together better, it said.
Slumping Shares
In investor relations, van Steenis will be backed up by Martin Osinga, who held the job on a temporary basis since Stewart left. The men have their work cut out for them: UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti is under pressure over the bank's stock. The shares recently crashed through 10 Swiss francs after languishing for months.
The wealth manager's prominent sponsorship of the Formula 1 gas-guzzling racing circuit is at odds with its push to offer more sustainable solutions to its rich clients. Others including Julius Baer and Liechtenstein's LGT have poured marketing money into Formula E, which is positioning its electric race cars as the greener alternative to Formula 1's combustion engines.
