Bob McCann is stepping down from his role as head of UBS Wealth Management Americas and president of UBS Americas, and will take over as chairman of UBS Americas, the firm announced Tuesday along with its third quarter earnings.
As chairman, McCann will focus on strategic initiatives around clients and business priorities. Tom Naratil, who currently serves as the group chief financial officer, will assume McCann’s previous roles.
UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said Tuesday that it was McCann’s decision to step down from his current roles. He added that over the past six years, McCann has done “tremendous” work in successfully turning around the U.S. wealth unit and making it an important part of the group's profitability.
“He has been a mentor and a friend to me for many years and I am pleased that he will continue to be an important contributor in his new role,” Ermotti said Tuesday. The changes will become effective Jan. 1, 2016.
The leadership shift comes as the firm reported net income of 2.07 billion Swiss francs ($2.1 billion) during the third quarter, compared to the 762 million francs a year ago. A 1.3 billion franc tax credit and lower legal costs boosted the Swiss bank's profits, even as it again postponed its profitability target due to the regulatory environment and macroeconomic conditions.
Here are the wealth management highlights:
- Adjusted pretax profits of $287 million, up 7 percent from the previous year and up 24 percent sequentially.
- Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.93 billion, up 1 percent from a year ago, but down 1 percent from last quarter. The results were driven by lower transaction-based income, but partly offset by higher managed account fees and higher net interest income.
- Invested assets were $992 billion, down 2 percent from a year ago and down 5 percent sequentially. UBS cited negative market performance as a factor.
- Net inflows for the U.S. wealth unit were $500 million during the quarter.
- Advisor headcount increased by 41 during the quarter to 6,989, down from 7,114 a year ago. UBS spokesman Gregg Rosenberg said the firm is selectively hiring advisors in the top two quintiles, and the firm is helping advisors in the lowest two quintiles transition out of the firm. About half of its advisors who left last quarter were in the bottom two quintiles.
- Revenue per advisor was down slightly to $1.11 million per advisor, compared to the record $1.12 million in the second quarter. While not all firms report this metric, by the firm’s calculations UBS has the highest revenue per advisor and invested assets per advisor.
- Invested assets per advisor were down 5 percent sequentially to $142 million and down 1 percent from $143 million a year ago, which the attributes to negative market performance.
