HONG KONG - UBS Group wealth boss Iqbal Khan told Credit Suisse Group staff in Asia that retention measures could come as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter, as the bank seeks to prevent an exodus of top talent.
Mr Khan, alongside Credit Suisse’s current wealth management chief Francesco De Ferrari, made the comments at a town-hall event in Hong Kong to Asia-Pacific staff on Friday. They were joined by UBS senior Asia executives including Ms Amy Lo, co-head of Asia-Pacific wealth, and Asia-Pacific president Edmund Koh, said the sources.
Mr Khan plans to go to Singapore as well, they said.
His presence in Asia and personal intervention signal that UBS is concerned rivals will use the Credit Suisse drama to poach valuable personnel and clients before UBS’ takeover is completed this year. Credit Suisse’s more than US$1 trillion (S$1.33 trillion) of client assets were the key appeal for a deal that bolsters UBS’ ambition to be the world’s top wealth manager.
The need to retain talent in Asia is especially acute. At least a dozen private bankers at the managing director-level and above have left Credit Suisse in Singapore and Hong Kong since September, or are planning to leave, Bloomberg reported earlier.
Some senior bankers who left handled at least US$1 billion in client assets, and are likely to take at least a quarter of the funds they manage to their new employers, or as much as 60 per cent in some cases.
It is unclear how many bankers will be offered the packages and whether that will be granted to other regions. The executives also told those attending that Asia is full of opportunities and the combined entity would be a powerhouse, the sources said.
UBS and Credit Suisse representatives declined to comment.
Even before the hastily arranged deal with UBS, Credit Suisse had seen a steady exodus of top private bankers and a drumbeat of asset outflows reaching US$110 billion in the fourth quarter.
Few within UBS are better placed than Mr Khan to decide which bankers the firm should strive to keep. Before moving to UBS in 2019, he was head of international wealth management at Credit Suisse, with responsibility for operations in the Middle East and Americas.
Credit Suisse was so concerned about losing bankers and clients after Mr Khan left that it set up a spy operation to monitor him. Mr Khan has already hired a number of former colleagues at his new bank. BLOOMBERG
