UBS' private banking arm was roiled last month by the exit of long-standing boss Juerg Zeltner. Now, the Swiss bank is making another major change at its flagship 2.6 trillion wealth management unit, finews.com can report exclusively.
The largest wealth manager in the world ousted veteran Juerg Zeltner last month as head of its private bank. Now, the Zurich-based bank is swapping out a key ally of his as well: emerging markets and Europe boss Paul Raphael.
The British-Lebanese banker will be replaced by Christine Novakovic (pictured below), who currently runs UBS' Swiss investment bank and business with corporate clients. Her appointment as head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa is effective next week, finews.com has learned. A spokesman for the bank confirmed the move, without elaborating.
Raphael hasn't yet decided to leave UBS, according to a source familiar with the matter. UBS is attempting to keep him on board in another position, suggesting that he didn't cede the job to Novakovic entirely of his own volition.
Lost Support
Speculation aside, Raphael was a long-standing ally of Zeltner. Two years ago, the private bank CEO merged UBS' emerging markets business with its European activities, and surprised some by tasking Raphael with running it. Until then, the 55-year-old former investment banker has run the emerging markets arm for six years.
The aim of that revamp was to cater to rich and ultra-rich clients in Europe as well as in emerging markets from a unified, organized entity. The plan caused strife early on: UBS' ultra-high net worth business is run by Joe Stadler, who clashed with Raphael repeatedly, UBS bankers told finews.com.
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