Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Let's get out to Davos, where Bloomberg Surveillance anchor John
Speaker 2: Ferrer is standing by. John take it away. Hey, guys,
Speaker 2: live from Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum, standing
Speaker 2: by the King of Swiss Banking. He might not like
Speaker 2: that introduction. It's Sergio ad Marti, the ubsc EO surg I.
Speaker 2: Good to see you. Hey, thanks for braving the colde
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Before we get into the bank, we're
Speaker 2: going to ease into this and start with financial markets.
Speaker 2: What a start to the trading week. Stateside equities open up,
Speaker 2: gap lower, bonyard, tire dollar week. We've seen this movie before.
Speaker 2: Last April got over it pretty quickly. We've thrown a
Speaker 2: lot of this market in the last twelve months. It
Speaker 2: hasn't stuck. Is there something different about the way we're
Speaker 2: set up for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: Well, I would say that it's probably the accumulation of
Speaker 1: issues that are now out there and not resolved that
Speaker 1: is becoming a little bit troubling in my point of view.
Speaker 1: So I think that this is the only major change,
Speaker 1: but we have to stay tuned for more volatility. Going
Speaker 1: forward and predictability and rapid changes. So I think that
Speaker 1: staying diversified in financial markets nowadays is pretty important.
Speaker 2: Let's get to what that word means, diversify. It feels
Speaker 2: like that's a diplomatic way of saying South America sometimes,
Speaker 2: and I'm not going to put words in your mouth.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what others are saying. Pinco is talking
Speaker 2: about a multi year period of diversification away from US assets.
Speaker 2: We've seen from others moving out of US treasuries. There
Speaker 2: was a headline earlier on this morning about a very
Speaker 2: small Danish pension fund and they've got their own issues
Speaker 2: in Denmark right now. Given their relationship with America, what
Speaker 2: are you seeing development.
Speaker 1: Well, Diversifying away from America is impossible. I think that
Speaker 1: in any major asset allocation, one could probably think about
Speaker 1: having an overweight or underweight, But diversifying away from the
Speaker 1: US and also from the dollar is a quite dangerous beat.
Speaker 1: You know, things can change rapidly, and this is the
Speaker 1: strongest economy in the world, the one was the highest
Speaker 1: level of innovation right now is a little bit bumpy,
Speaker 1: but I would say that I wouldn't really bet against
Speaker 1: the US.
Speaker 2: There seems to be a difference between how the politicians
Speaker 2: and the policymakers talk about America right now the backdrop
Speaker 2: for international relations, and how a business person thinks of America,
Speaker 2: the economy and the opportunity. I've mentioned this now a
Speaker 2: number of times already today about the survey the PwC
Speaker 2: put out. They survey four and a half thousand CEOs
Speaker 2: and the top destination for capital for investment America, and
Speaker 2: it was up on last year. As a bank boss
Speaker 2: right now, a CEO who's thinking about expanding around the world,
Speaker 2: why is us still top of mind for you?
Speaker 1: Well, because from our centerraint of view, we see two
Speaker 1: big levers. First of all, wealth creation GDP growth innovations,
Speaker 1: and also more indiosyncratic to UBS is that we see
Speaker 1: potential for us to become more present, increase our market
Speaker 1: share one place. On the other end, we are also
Speaker 1: very big in Asia. I mean we manage one trillion
Speaker 1: of assets there. We are growing very fast, the economy
Speaker 1: is growing. Half of the population in the world is
Speaker 1: living there and is creating new wealth. But you know,
Speaker 1: in the America, in the US, by the way, last year,
Speaker 1: the US created twenty five millions of new millionaires, so
Speaker 1: basically one thousand millionaires a day. So it's a place
Speaker 1: for a financial institution, a wealth manager like UBS is
Speaker 1: a place to be.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about that. Is that something you want to
Speaker 2: do organically or through an acquisition.
Speaker 1: I think that we have enough to do organically. By
Speaker 1: doing better what we can do, we are enhancing our
Speaker 1: product capabilities. We just got a national charter application being
Speaker 1: approved by the OCC. We are expanding our interaction between
Speaker 1: the investment bank and our wealth management people. So I
Speaker 1: think that more things we can do to get better
Speaker 1: and stronger.
Speaker 2: It sounds like you're on the front foot at the
Speaker 2: same time as the boucer in behind me. I'm reminded
Speaker 2: of where we are Switzerland and the issues on the
Speaker 2: horizon potentially for the bank, and that's capital requirements. That
Speaker 2: feels like a cloud that's hanging over this bank right now.
Speaker 2: How quickly do you think we can resolve it?
Speaker 1: Not quickly. I think it's a political process. Most likely
Speaker 1: we're going to find out the direction of travel that
Speaker 1: you know in the middle of the second quarter, and
Speaker 1: then it's still a political process. But you're right that
Speaker 1: this is something that has been quite distracting for us.
Speaker 1: Although we have been quite successful in managing the integration
Speaker 1: of Predy Swiss is almost completed. We are almost you know,
Speaker 1: three months ago and then the vast majority of the
Speaker 1: job is done. So but we look forward for our
Speaker 1: resolution also, I'm sure you do.
Speaker 2: From the strategic standpoint, How is it holding you back?
Speaker 2: How is it distracting you? What are you prevented from
Speaker 2: doing that you've would like to do right.
Speaker 1: Now at this point in time, To be fair, nothing,
Speaker 1: because you know, executing the integration is the top priority.
Speaker 1: We cannot be complacent. Although ninety eighty five percent is done,
Speaker 1: the last fifteen percent is as important. We still need
Speaker 1: to take out three billion of costs and finalize the
Speaker 1: restructuring and then we can We are prepared for growth,
Speaker 1: and that's the reason why we are investing top line
Speaker 1: but also in efficiencies AI and how we can become
Speaker 1: better and stronger.
Speaker 2: Where did the cost come out? You satisfied with the
Speaker 2: size of the workforce. There's more need to be done
Speaker 2: on that side of.
Speaker 1: Well, there is still unfortunately that's the more. You know,
Speaker 1: A big chunk of the savings are going to come
Speaker 1: by disconnecting all the IT systems, data centers. But also
Speaker 1: there is a you know, also a painful still part
Speaker 1: on the account. But it's within what we always announced.
Speaker 1: So you know, I think the direction of travel is said.
Speaker 2: This is the top of the to do list for you,
Speaker 2: and then someone else is going to step in eventually.
Speaker 2: You've offered your thought about where that someone might come from,
Speaker 2: that you'd like to see them come from internally, from
Speaker 2: within the bank, you open to someone coming from the outside.
Speaker 1: Well, we always need to be open. I think that
Speaker 1: the board is not you know, my job is to
Speaker 1: is to prepare and to present to the board as
Speaker 1: many candidate possible for internally and the role of the
Speaker 1: board is to also evaluate external candidates and find the
Speaker 1: best solution for the future. But I would say the
Speaker 1: bank is very strong, My team is very strong, and
Speaker 1: I do believe that, you know, an evolution is what
Speaker 1: we need. Is probably not a revolution, but you know,
Speaker 1: it all depends.
Speaker 2: What's the timeline for that process. Now, can you give
Speaker 2: us an idea. At what point do you present your
Speaker 2: ideas about who might succeed you?
Speaker 1: Well, we always every year I present ideas and you
Speaker 1: know a succession. Succession is not a process that you do.
Speaker 1: You know, only a few months or years before somebody leaves.
Speaker 1: A succession is somebody that we manage every year, and
Speaker 1: from my Iceland point of view, we need to be
Speaker 1: just prepared to have the best person for that moment.
Speaker 2: When that person is selected, there is another seat that
Speaker 2: might open, and it's the chairperson's seat. And I just
Speaker 2: wonder when you step aside a CEO, as the chapter
Speaker 2: truly closed for you and the bank.
Speaker 1: Well, look, you know, right now, I'm very focused on
Speaker 1: finishing my job. Honestly, I think this is still very
Speaker 1: intense activity and then it's going to be you know,
Speaker 1: I need to reflect.
Speaker 2: You realize people watching this won't really believe that, well,
Speaker 2: you are a human being. You were thinking about the
Speaker 2: future and what comes next.
Speaker 1: But people watching there are not expecting me to respond.
Speaker 2: That is true as well, particularly this gentleman right here
Speaker 2: who wants that response from you. Just a final question
Speaker 2: from me. I believe you first took the job as
Speaker 2: CEO back in twenty eleven. As you look back on things,
Speaker 2: and I think this is the appropriate time to be
Speaker 2: and to think about this, your legacy at the bank.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure you ever really thought that we'd end
Speaker 2: up here integrating Credit Suite in the circumstances we did.
Speaker 2: But how would you like your legacy to remembered as
Speaker 2: a leader of UBS.
Speaker 1: I was very proud. I mean in a tragic moment
Speaker 1: for Switzerland and for the banking industry, I was very
Speaker 1: proud in twenty twenty three when I have two years
Speaker 1: after I left that UBS was asked to step in
Speaker 1: and stabilize and help stabilizing credit Swiss and being part
Speaker 1: of the solution. That was for me, the you know,
Speaker 1: almost reaching what I always thought I wanted to show
Speaker 1: with our transformations in the first period. Right now, I
Speaker 1: think that we have a solid bank, a stronger bank
Speaker 1: than before, and I believe we are set for growth.
Speaker 1: So the legacy is always to see that when you
Speaker 1: leave after a couple of years, things are going even better.
Speaker 2: So Jah, it's got to see it. Thanks for making
Speaker 2: time for us. Thank you, We'll get you into the world.
Speaker 2: That was the UBS CEO Sergio Ramoti speaking with Bloomberg
Speaker 2: Surveillance right here at the World Economic Forum