UBS realigns management ranks, branches

UBS shuffled its management ranks in three divisions, realigning branches and reassigning some managers, according to memos seen by On Wall Street.

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The changes follow a challenging first quarter for the firm’s wealth management operations. The executive shuffle also comes following the recent merger of capital-markets teams in wealth management and investment banking in the U.S.

In Chicago, Market Head Dennis Drescher is retiring. He had been with the company for 16 of his 44 years in the business, according to FINRA BrokerCheck.

In the wake of Drescher's departure, UBS is combining two units in its Midwest division — Chicago Tower and Metro Chicago Markets — into a single entity to be led by Greg Achten. He’ll oversee operations in Chicago and nearby communities such as Oak Brook and Naperville, Illinois, as well as Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, according to a memo.

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Darryl Wegner is a managing director in PKF O'Connor Davies' Forensic, Litigation and Valuation practice. Prior to joining PKF O'Connor Davies, he served as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 21 years where he conducted and led complex, multi-jurisdictional investigations involving anti-money laundering, financial and accounting fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, health care fraud, anti-bribery and anti-corruption, criminal antitrust, national security, counter threat finance and sanctions. He has extensive experience working with federal, state, local and international law enforcement and regulatory agencies. He began his FBI career in the Boston Field Office, investigating terrorism and white-collar crime while also serving as a crisis negotiator. He held several positions at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., including as the national leader of the bureau's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, kleptocracy and antitrust programs, as one of the FBI's deputy chief human capital officers and led efforts to stand up a multidisciplinary nation state focused mission center. In addition to Boston and D.C., he was assigned to the FBI's Houston Field Office where he directed all white-collar crime investigations in southeast Texas. He started his professional career as an engineer in the automotive industry. After attending law school, he practiced as a corporate attorney for an international law firm in New York.

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Craig Tomasino, the manager who oversaw the Metro Chicago Market, will serve as branch manager in Oak Brook.

In Ohio, UBS is reducing its operational structure from three units to two (the firm dubs these units markets). These units will be led by Peter Kaldis and Jon Ramey.

UBS is also folding its Tulsa and Oklahoma City branches into its Midwest market, overseen by manager Mike Mimick.

With that change, UBS plans to dissolve its North Texas-Oklahoma market. The firm will realign some Texas branch offices into a new Texas market comprised of Midland, Tyler, San Angelo and Bryan, Texas. UBS executive Ben Tarantino will oversee operations.

UBS NYC Headquarters Bloomberg News photo
A woman exits the UBS building in New York on June 9, 2003. UBS AG, Europe's largest bank by assets, is dropping the PaineWebber and Warburg brands from its brokerage and investment bank today, scrapping two of the best-known names on Wall Street and in the City of London. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News.
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

UBS branches in Corpus Christi and San Antonio will fold into the Houston market, led by Scott Skinner.

Sam Parker, who oversaw the Central Texas Market, will serve as branch manager in Austin.

UBS is also making operational changes further west. Branches in San Francisco and Marin County are being folded into the firm’s Northern California market led by Erin Borger. Two UBS branches in Fresno and Merced, California, plus one in Honolulu, are being added to the company’s Silicon Valley market headed by Rob Giordano.

Mike Williams, who oversaw the San Francisco Hawaii Market, will now serve as branch manager in San Francisco office, according to the memo.

The changes come after UBS Wealth Management Americas reported pretax profit fell 6% year-over-year to $328 million.

While the company has the most productive advisors when compared to its wirehouse competitors, ts brokerage force has shrunk somewhat. Headcount fell to 6,790 advisors from 6,956 for the year-ago period.

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Wirehouses Branch management Branch managers UBS UBS Wealth Management
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