The Swiss bank is hiring for its ultra-rich banking business, enticing a long-standing J.P. Morgan banker to run its Middle Eastern business, finews.com has learned.
Zurich's UBS is poaching Ronald Wehrli away from J.P. Morgan's private bank to take over its ultra-rich business in the Middle East, Israel, Africa, and Turkey from June, according to a memo seen by finews.com. The Swiss-born banker currently runs investment management and client advice in most of the U.S. bank's international markets, including Europe and Asia.
The move is a coup for UBS, which two weeks ago disclosed plans to merge its private bank with its U.S.-based brokerage and put renewed emphasis on its business with clients with more than $50 million to bank.
Raft of Changes
The ultra-wealthy unit's current head of central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Agis Leopoulos, is being given a vice-chairman job from March. He will advise European unit head Caroline Kuhnert (pictured below) on strategy, according to the memo signed by her.
Wehrli, a Geneva native, will relocate back to his hometown after more than five years in New York. The changes are the latest to hit UBS' private bank since long-standing head Juerg Zeltner left in December. He was replaced by former Commerzbank boss Martin Blessing, who will now co-run the merged unit with his U.S. counterpart, Tom Naratil, after the merger.
Kuhnert is giving Matthias Lehmann, who runs UBS' ultra-rich business in France and Monaco, oversight in Greece as well from March. Long-standing UBS banker Tobias Wehrli moved into the Greece and Cyprus job last September, and will continue to run the business, but report to Lehmann.
