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December 26, 2011 at 07:00 PM
UBS recently made Bob McCann head of UBS’ operations in the Americas and reassigned Philip Lofts to the post of chief risk officer for the Swiss-based firm. Maureen Miskovic, who had been chief risk officer for UBS since early 2010, left the firm.
The changes came several weeks after Sergio Ermotti was officially made CEO and were the first management rearrangement since the trading scandal that cost the Swiss bank more than $2 billion in September. (Ermotti replaced Oswald Gruebel, who stepped down after the unauthorized trades were discovered.)
“I see this [promotion of McCann] as a relatively loud signal of UBS’ dedication to its U.S. brokerage business and also to wealth management as its core business worldwide,” said Chip Roame, head of Tiburon Strategic Advisors of the Bay Area, in an interview.
“McCann is a long-time private client group executive at UBS and Merrill,” Roame explained. “The appointment of him as head of the entire UBS U.S. operation says to me that the emphasis will remain on private-client business, as opposed to investment banking, asset management or anything else.”
McCann came to UBS in 2009, after leading Merrill Lynch’s wealth-management operations. He has successfully recruited a number of managers and advisors to UBS from Bank of America-Merrill over the past two years.
In early December, for instance, Barry Mitchell — an advisor with yearly fees and commissions of $1.9 million and assets under management of roughly $290 million — joined UBS’ New York operations from Merrill Lynch. Mitchell will work in the Park Avenue office, where he will report to branch manager Dan Shepler.
“Bob McCann has always been viewed positively by the retail salesforce whether at UBS or at his former firm, Merrill Lynch,” said Mark Elzweig, an executive search consultant in New York, in an interview. “He’s regarded as someone who really understands the concerns and issues of brokers. I think that UBS advisors will be very happy with this news.”
