UBS considering U.S. CEO role for Karofsky in strategic revamp

UBS Group is discussing plans to elevate investment bank chief Rob Karofsky to lead its entire U.S. business, as the Swiss lender focuses on expanding in the world's largest wealth market, people familiar with the matter said. 

The shake-up, the details of which have not yet been finalized, would see Karofsky, 57, take responsibility for the key wealth management business in the country, in addition to the U.S. investment bank, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private details. The move would enable global wealth head Iqbal Khan, 48, to focus on fast-growing markets in Asia and the Middle East.

The creation of the role reprises to an extent the position held by Tom Naratil, who was the joint leader of the wealth unit and the president of UBS's Americas business until 2022. Khan, who helped run Credit Suisse's international wealth business for several years before moving to UBS in 2019, was subsequently made sole global wealth head.  

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A spokesman for UBS declined to comment. Karofsky and Khan didn't respond to requests for comment.

UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti has made expanding in the U.S. wealth market a key part of his strategy beyond the immediate integration of Credit Suisse, which the bank bought in an emergency rescue last year. The takeover helps beef up UBS's investment bank offering in the U.S., which it intends to use to bring entrepreneurs and ultrahigh-net-worth individuals on board as wealth clients. 

UBS named Karofsky sole head of its investment bank unit in 2021, building on his background in trading. He joined UBS in 2014, helping drive a digital transformation of the markets unit. The investment bank helped underpin a firm-wide return to profitability last quarter, delivering a particularly strong performance in the Americas while completing the integration of its Credit Suisse counterpart. 

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UBS, which is the largest wealth manager in the world outside the U.S., has previously struggled to expand there. It operates with a network of financial advisers who, while they deliver UBS products to clients, are not directly bound to the bank. The Swiss firm's network spans more than 6,000 advisers, though that's far fewer than its key rival, Morgan Stanley. 

"We have the cost base of a much larger organization in the U.S. but we don't have the capabilities yet that allow us to fully leverage our global franchise," Ermotti said earlier this year.