With Stefan Arn stepping down after 15 years, UBS is losing one of its most capable IT leaders. A manager who grew up in the Netherlands is taking over for him, finews.com has learned.
Stefan Arn had a wide remit at UBS as Chief Digital & Information Officer (CDIO) for the Swiss business as well as domestic and international wealth management, which he co-ran with Pascal Emile, a role which will be assumed by Pieter Brouwer (pictured below), at the beginning of June, according to an internal memo obtained by finews.ch.
With the departure of Arn, UBS is losing a computer scientist who brought billion-dollar projects to completion and is considered to be one of the most capable IT talents in Switzerland.
(Image: UBS)
Arn who is retiring will be remembered as a co-architect of UBS Switzerland who, above all, shaped the development of the «One Wealth Management» platform. The booking platform was centralized in Zurich which successively combined booking processes of wealth management from not only Europe but Hong Kong and Singapore as well.
The project costing more than 1 billion Swiss francs, kept UBS busy for years and Arn on his toes. His sleeves-rolled-up and hands-on manner were in stark contrast with the bankers in pinstripes. The IT expert was not necessarily regarded as a friend of outsourcing services to low-wage destinations.
Culture of Engineers
Since the arrival of group CEO Ralph Hamers at the end of 2019, the profile of the IT department has risen at UBS. Hamers is seeking to instill a «culture of engineers» in the institution's back office . At the same time, numerous IT projects have been scrutinized for their return on investment.
By all accounts, Arn would have liked to retire earlier; now he will continue to serve as an advisor to his successor, Brouwer.
Sole Boss
Brouwer, like Hamers, grew up in the Netherlands and has been with UBS since 2017. As current CDIO chief operating officer, he leads departments' transformation and innovation portfolios, oversees the bank's resilience and business continuity management activities, where he is also responsible for financial, risk, and strategy management.
In his new role, he will continue to report to Group CDIO Mike Dargan, working from Zurich. In addition, Brouwer will become a member of the Executive Committee of the Switzerland business and Global Asset Management management. Previous Co-CDIO Emile will now report to Brouwer in the area.
