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Following several exits at UBS, Christine Novakovic is emerging as the strongwoman of the Swiss bank's wealth arm. The ambitious European boss faces resistance as she plots her next career move. 

She's called «Christl» in banking circles: Christine Novakovic's diminutive nickname harkens from her south Tyrolean heritage. At 54, after eight years as a managing director at UBS and one as wealth head on the Swiss bank's key European, Middle East, and Africa market, Novakovic is poised to take her next career step.

Her reputation as an ambitious and demanding banker is underscored by the recent exits of two high-ranking bankers in Germany, including country head Thomas Rodermann, within weeks of each other. Novakovic put the kibosh on Rodermann's play for wider influence in Europe after he spent three years building up UBS' continental bank, Europe SE, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

A spokeswoman for UBS said the role of Rodermann had overlapped with Novakovic's responsibilities. Novakovic quickly took over the European arm herself, and elevated Marcus Stollenwerk for the German wealth business. 

Unshy in Turf Wars

The episodes illustrate that Novakovic has cemented her power in UBS' wealth division, where she oversees $500 billion in assets. The first woman to bag «executive of the year» in Germany – in 2003 – Novakovic sat out the financial crisis as a gallery owner. She returned to banking in 2011 as head of UBS' corporate client arm in Switzerland, then took over the Swiss investment bank three years later.

She was furious at being passed over for the top Swiss job two years ago, when ex-Commerzbank boss Martin Blessing took over from Swiss banker Lukas Gaehwiler. Unusually openly confident, Novakovic vented her irritation internally – including to CEO Sergio Ermotti. Nevertheless, she settled in – today, she and Blessing, who is now her boss at the wealth arm, enjoy a good relationship.

Thirsty for More

Novakovic was unamused to be passed over for the same job one year later, and threw herself into the running to replace long-standing private bank head Juerg Zeltner, who left late in 2017. She lost out to Blessing (again), but her irritation was short-lived when the German banker gave her the top EMEA job.

She controls the second-largest region in the wider division, after the U.S., where $1.2 trillion in funds sit. Her credentials are solid: she ran Citigroup's corporate, retail, and private business in Germany and sat on German HVB's top management. Sixteen months into her latest job, she is said to be thirsty for a bigger role at UBS' private bank, which at $2.26 trillion in assets is the world's largest.