Office address: 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019
Website: ubs.com/us
Year established: 1862
Company type: financial services
Employees: 110,300+
Expertise: wealth management, investment banking, asset management, retirement planning, alternative investments, sustainable investing, corporate solutions, financial planning, risk management, capital markets
Parent company: UBS Group AG (Switzerland)
Key people: Sergio Ermotti (group CEO); Robert Karofsky, George Athanasopoulos, and Marco Valla (co-presidents); Aleksandar Ivanovic (president); Mike Dargan (group chief operations and technology officer); Todd Tuckner (group CFO)
Financing status: corporation
UBS is a leading global bank that specializes in serving high-net-worth clients and institutions. The company manages $6.6 trillion in invested assets and offers tailored financial advice and solutions to individuals, families, and institutions. Its US operations are headquartered in New York.
UBS traces its beginnings to 1862 in Switzerland, when Bank in Winterthur was created to help local business and manage a warehouse. Fifty years later, a merger with Toggenburger Bank formed Union Bank of Switzerland, which quickly grew its network and services across the country.
Swiss Bank Corporation, known as SBC, formed from several mergers in the late 1800s and soon set its sights beyond Switzerland. By 1898, SBC had opened a branch in London, showing its global ambitions.
Both Union Bank of Switzerland and SBC embraced new technology, such as adding machines and early computers. They also opened offices in major financial centers like New York, Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro.
A turning point came in 1998, when Union Bank of Switzerland and SBC joined forces to create UBS. This merger brought together expertise in various areas which made UBS one of the world’s largest financial institutions.
In 2000, the company entered the US market in a big way by acquiring PaineWebber, an American brokerage and asset manager. This gave the firm a strong presence in New York and across the country.
The company continued to grow, even through financial crises, and expanded its digital banking services worldwide. In 2023, it acquired Credit Suisse which strengthened its role as Switzerland’s largest universal bank.
By 2025, UBS increased checks on client money sources in Asia after a money-laundering scandal. The firm worked with Deloitte and KPMG and closed thousands of smaller accounts.
The firm combines deep market knowledge with access to both traditional and alternative investments. UBS's investment offerings include:
UBS is also known for its strong digital platforms and global network. Clients benefit from disciplined risk management and a wide selection of investment choices.
UBS states that its culture is the foundation for how the company works and adapts to change. The firm’s “three keys” represent the main values and guide daily actions:
UBS aims to create a supportive and flexible work environment for all employees. According to the company, its benefits are designed to help staff balance work and personal life:
UBS also offers regional programs to help employees manage work and family commitments. The company reports that it provides benefits that often go beyond legal requirements.
Sergio P. Ermotti serves as group CEO of UBS Group AG and has been leading the executive board since 2023. Before this, Ermotti led the company from 2011 to 2020 and served as chair at Swiss Re. He also held senior roles at UniCredit Group and Merrill Lynch. He completed advanced management training at the University of Oxford.
The UBS Group Executive Board leads the company’s global operations and oversees key business areas:
UBS Group AG uses a dual board structure as required by Swiss law. The board of directors delegates business management to the executive board.
In 2025, UBS experts shared practical strategies for family wealth conversations, focusing on values, legacy, and open communication. Judy Spalthoff and Libby Stantial explained how purposeful dialogue and programs like Emerging Successors help families prepare future inheritors. Their advice supports clients in building trust and guiding responsible wealth transitions across generations.
UBS leaders like Adrian Zuercher have also highlighted how new clients, especially younger generations and women, are driving demand for ESG and sustainable solutions. The company sees this shift as a sign that stewardship and responsible investing will play a bigger role in its future, as clients look for more return drivers and long-term value.
Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., the pioneer of discount brokerage and the first broker to focus a business unit solely on independent investment advisers, appears to have proved once again that it pays to be first.
One of the great ironies of the market cataclysm is that investors stuck with auction rate securities — among the earliest victims of the global credit freeze — are now enjoying some of the fattest returns.
In a year of seemingly endless bad news for hedge funds, many hedge-fund-of-funds managers, especially institutionally focused firms, actually thrived.
As the market pushed Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. into a fire sale last week, some financial advisers and registered representatives said they were sticking with Lehman's storied investment management division, Neuberger Berman, at least for now.
Handful of firms peddled equity swaps, stock loans to clients; 'IRS pussyfooted on this.'
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. of New York expects its retail client holdings of auction rate securities to fall to $7.5 billion by the end of the year, said Bob McCann, head of the firm's retail unit.
As leaner times sweep through the asset management industry, everything from travel expenses and catering services to payroll (read: bonuses) is on the chopping block.
I read Libby Dubick's Marketing Strategies column, "Grit your teeth and make that call," in the Aug. 19 issue on reaching out to clients during this volatile time, and I couldn't agree with her more.
Bank of America Corp. said yesterday that it is ready to settle with state and federal regulators over a probe into its marketing of auction rate securities.
Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. posted a loss and a 27% decline in net new-home orders in its fiscal third quarter.
Recent regulatory settlements by Citigroup Inc. and other big banks have set the tone for what corporate investors can expect from the auction rate securities mess.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership will be repaid $18 million and $25 million, respectively.
The SEC chairman said investigations will go beyond the banks and include the brokerages that sold the investments.
The repurchase of some $35 billion in ARS is not expected to have a material financial impact, banks say.
Although brokers have welcomed the billions in auction rate securities buybacks announced by the big Wall Street firms in the past two weeks, they are still angry that it took six months for their companies to begin dealing with the fiasco.
