UBS — UBS STRUGGLES TO CLOSE PROFITABILITY GAP WITH US RIVALS IN WEALTH MANAGEMENT PUSH

UBS faces a significant challenge in its effort to boost the profitability of its US wealth management arm to match Wall Street competitors like Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan. Despite improving its Americas pre-tax margin to 13.7% in Q1, it remains well below the nearly 30% reported by rivals, and adviser headcount has fallen to 5,722 from over 6,000 two years ago. The Swiss bank is pinning its hopes on a new national banking license to capture more client deposits, but faces a headwind from proposed Swiss regulations that could require it to hold billions in additional capital against its US operations.