As the economic climate in China and the region has turned chillier, the world”s largest wealth management house, in the process of integrating Credit Suisse, has cut jobs, a report said.

UBS has begun cutting jobs
at its Asia private banking division this week amid a fall in
profits at the group, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed
sources.

WealthBriefingAsia understands that the decision to cut
jobs is not a new one – it was reported in January.

The Switzerland-headquartered bank, like many of its peers
in recent years, had heavily expanded into Asia, including
China, because of rising prosperity. It has now had to
cut about 70 people, including relationship managers, mainly in
Hong Kong and Singapore. 

The news service said a spokeswoman for the bank declined to
comment. UBS also declined to comment to this
publication. 

The report noted that wealth generation in China has stalled as
the nation’s economy struggles to regain momentum amid a property
crisis and a selloff in equities. Restrictions on certain
economic sectors, such as parts of technology, by the current
Beijing regime two years ago also hit investment confidence from
overseas.

The latest Capgemini report on the world’s wealth sector, issued
in June 2023, found that the population of HNW individuals in
Asia-Pacific fell 2 per cent in 2023 from a year earlier, as
markets took a tumble. 

The news report on UBS said the job cuts included bankers who
joined from Credit
Suisse as part of the integration after the takeover by UBS.
The Zurich-listed lender has been melding together teams since
the “shotgun” wedding with its smaller rival last year – a
process that raised prospects of reductions. 

WBA regularly notes when former Credit Suisse senior
bankers have been hired by other banks across APAC.
Take this case of a former Credit Suisse figure joining
Bank of Singapore, as announced a few days ago, for example.

UBS reported a
fall in fourth-quarter operating profit for 2023 from a
year ago. Losses stemmed from investment into SIX Group and
the integration costs involved in buying Credit Suisse.