Reuters reported that UBS is considering retention packages to keep Credit Suisse wealth bankers in place.
Reuters reported that UBS’s president of global wealth management, Iqbal Khan, said that the top performers at the Credit Suisse Bank wealth business in Asia shall get retention packages. Bloomberg 1st reported the development. Iqbal Khan wanted to encourage senior managers of Credit Suisse Banks’s wealth business.
Understanding the retention problem of top banking personnel
Francesco de Ferrari of Credit Suisse and Iqbal Khan of UBS has said the two banks shall act as a ‘big family’. Iqbal Khan is familiar with Credit Suisse. He had led the bank’s wealth management for 4 years until UBS took him to do the same job in 2019. But, only a good knowledge of Iqbal Khan about Credit Suisse does not make for a simple equation. Also, aligning the private banker numbers shall not be easy.
UBS already has a lead over Credit Suisse Bank. Especially when it has come to the overall number of relationship managers. UBS has a global count of 9,215 private bankers compared to Credit Suisse Bank’s 3,460 relationship managers.
Citywire Asia reported that Ralph Hamers, UBS Group CEO, said that the US, Asia Pacific, and Latin America are some regions where the two banks have a complementary offering. Credit Suisse Bank’s capabilities in Southeast Asia are good. But, the bank was losing senior personnel from this region from the time it unveiled its strategic plan in October 2022. For example, Jin Yee Young, the CEO of wealth management Singapore(Deutsche Bank), had left Credit Suisse and joined Deutsche Bank. Interestingly, the German lender Deutsche Bank seems to be a major beneficiary in the Apac region. The bank also took Johanes Oeni from the Credit Suisse bank as its Indonesia wealth chief.
NDTV reported that Khan is working hard to thwart the probable loss of top Credit Suisse Group AG bankers and its clients. This is because competitors may like to use this scenario of the banking crisis and bank takeover.
Iqbal Khan, also an ex-Credit Suisse executive, is in talks with private bankers. This is in an attempt to try to hang onto the fallen banking firm’s top talent. Iqbal Khan met managers in Hong Kong this present week and now plans to go to Singapore also to hold meetings.
Iqbal Khan had already signaled that relationship managers should stay until the merger closes. This is because UBS may be willing to offer several incentives and retention packages in the future. The retention package offer that is to come from UBS is its initiative and efforts to boost staff morale at Credit Suisse Bank.
About UBS’s Iqbal Khan
Iqbal Khan is the President of Global Wealth Management at the famous UBS AG. He is on the board of the Optimus Foundation of UBS. He had also worked at Credit Suisse Bank. Iqbal Khan is also the President of UBS Group AG’s EMEA section.
How the banking crisis occurred?
The 2 US banks, namely SVB and Signature Bank, collapsed this month, and UBS will buy Credit Suisse.
Evening Standard analyzed that the aftermath of the SVB collapse had sparked losses in London’s stock markets. The banking stocks in the US fell sharply. Finance experts and analysts reassured UK banking customers that their banks are resilient.
But still, people remained concerned about what banking news was coming out of Europe and the US.
There is much nervousness amongst private bankers, who are worried about client coverage, redundancies, and leadership problems.