In nine weeks, he takes over at the helm of the world's largest wealth manager. His boss reinforced one of Ralph Hamers' top priorities.
The Swiss bank is «already very successful at digitization,» UBS Chairman Axel Weber told a German banking conference, according to a report by «Reuters» (in German). The entrance of Ralph Hamers (pictured below) means UBS will become «much more successful» at it, Weber said.
Hamers, who ran ING for seven years, began in Zurich this week as designated CEO. The 54-year-old Dutch banker is poised to replace long-standing skipper Sergio Ermotti in November. Until then, he is understudying on UBS' 13-person top management.
Fickle Stance
Weber's comments don't represent much of a surprise – like most major banks, UBS has had trouble integrating emerging technology into its offering, especially sustainably. Smartwealth, a robo adviser for the affluent, is a prominent victim of its fickle stance.
Hamers is a vociferous proponent of digitization for business as well as organizational purposes: he notably argued for «disrupting yourself before somebody else does it» when he took the helm at ING in 2013, according to «Bloomberg».
Pandemic-Driven?
Weber, UBS' chairman, inferred the bank will make some changes under the guise of the pandemic: «There are fundamental questions around the branch network versus digital distribution channels. Real estate in which banks house their headquarters versus work-from-home arrangements,» he said in Frankfurt.
Credit Suisse last week disclosed an overhaul of its Swiss branch network following the pandemic. The measures will cut Credit Suisse's spending by 100 million Swiss francs ($110 million), which it plans to largely plow back into initiatives in Switzerland like a makeover of branch offices, complemented by digital solutions.
Innovation Snuffed
While coronavirus certainly hit home themes like how to distribute to the wealthy digitally, the issues were already very prevalent before the outbreak. Its private bank had three different leaders – Juerg Zeltner, then Martin Blessing together with current co-head Tom Naratil, and now Iqbal Khan and Naratil – in four years.
The frequent changeovers stifled some innovation efforts, as finews.com reported last year. Weber highlighted a new system to ensure UBS' staff are complying with rules while working from home as an example of recent innovation efforts, which also include automating more mundane data processing routines.
