By Sonali Basak
(Bloomberg) --UBS Group AG hired Susan Elolampi from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to work with private equity firms and lead investment banking for family offices in the Americas.
Elolampi is joining as a managing director based in New York, according to a memo sent to staff Thursday from Max Justicz, UBS’s head of financial sponsors in the Americas, who added that “family office clients represent an important growth area” for the bank.
Wall Street is stepping up efforts to court ultra-high net worth individuals, as growing pools of wealth target investments in private companies. Elolampi spent 17 years at JPMorgan working with groups of financial sponsors, and more recently led an effort in North America that worked with about 55 families and reviewed several hundred more poised to make acquisitions.
Erica Chase, a spokeswoman for UBS, confirmed the contents of the memo, while a JPMorgan spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
The Swiss firm, which has one of the world’s biggest wealth managers, has recently added a dozen managing directors and other senior-level bankers in recent months as Andrea Orcel, president of the global investment bank, pursues what he called a “ very aggressive plan” for the U.S.
Family offices have “become increasingly sophisticated and agile,” Justicz said in the memo. “Given our best-in-class wealth management franchise, it should come as no surprise that investing in a strong family office coverage effort is a top priority for the firm.”
--With assistance from Simone Foxman.To contact the reporter on this story: Sonali Basak in New York at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at [email protected] Pierre Paulden, Dan Reichl
