UBS Bundle
How will UBS reshape global wealth management after Credit Suisse?
UBS vaulted to the top of global wealth management after acquiring Credit Suisse, executing a complex integration while keeping strong capital and client inflows. The bank now spans wealth, asset management, investment banking and Swiss retail banking with scale and systemic importance.
Operating in 50+ markets with over 100,000 employees, UBS serves UHNW, HNW, corporates and institutions through advisory, lending, trading and transaction banking. Learn strategic competitive dynamics with UBS Porter's Five Forces Analysis.
What Are the Key Operations Driving UBS’s Success?
UBS Group AG combines a Swiss universal bank backbone with global wealth and asset management and a focused investment bank, serving UHNW/HNW households, Swiss retail/SMEs, institutions and sovereigns through lending, deposits, AM strategies, and IB services.
Universal banking backbone
UBS operates a Swiss-based hub providing retail deposits, mortgages and payments, anchoring funding stability and regulatory resilience.
Global wealth management
Discretionary and advisory portfolio management for UHNW/HNW clients, plus Lombard and structured lending, form the core of UBS wealth offerings.
Asset management platform
AM uses open architecture—active, passive and alternatives—while cross-distributing proprietary funds through wealth channels to boost client wallet share.
Investment banking
Focused IB delivers equities, FICC, capital markets and advisory services aligned to wealth and corporate clients with liquidity and structured solutions.
Operations follow a hub-and-spoke model: Swiss core, regional wealth hubs (Americas, EMEA, APAC) and centralized tech, risk and treasury, with an ongoing integration of Credit Suisse platforms to a unified stack to improve STP and controls.
Value drivers and scale advantages
Scale in UHNW, a resilient Swiss deposit base and global CIO research underpin pricing power, lower funding costs and higher client penetration versus peers.
- Cost synergy target: $10–13 billion gross savings by end-2026 from IT de-duplication, real estate, vendor consolidation and workforce optimization.
- Client segments: UHNW/HNW households, Swiss affluent/SMEs, institutional investors and sovereigns.
- Distribution ecosystem: global custodianship, prime brokerage, co-manufactured alternatives with GPs, and Swiss payment/acquiring partnerships.
- Tech and risk focus: unified tech stack aims for higher straight-through processing rates and tighter risk controls to lower unit costs.
Read more on strategic integration and growth in the Growth Strategy of UBS article.
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How Does UBS Make Money?
Revenue Streams and Monetization Strategies for UBS Group AG center on diversified, client-focused income: recurring advisory fees from invested assets, net interest income from Swiss banking, management and performance fees in Asset Management, and transaction and advisory fees from Investment Banking.
Global Wealth Management
GWM drives the largest share of revenues via advisory mandates, lending and transaction fees, supported by scale and client flows.
Personal & Corporate Banking (Switzerland)
Stable net interest income from mortgages and SME lending provides a low-cost funding base and steady fee income.
Asset Management
Management and performance fees across active strategies, ETFs and alternatives deliver recurring and scalable revenue.
Investment Bank
Equities, FICC, capital markets and advisory generate transaction and fee income with a client-flow, capital-light emphasis.
Non-core and Legacy Wind-down
Legacy Credit Suisse assets are being run down, producing shrinking, non-recurring revenue as RWAs are reduced through 2026.
Monetization Levers
Revenue improvement focuses on mandate migration, upsell, cross-selling, lending spreads and structured-product fees to shift mix toward recurring, capital-light income.
Key metrics and regional dynamics underpinning monetization strategies and revenue mix.
Revenue mix & scale
Post-merger GWM typically supplies roughly 50–60% of group revenues, underpinned by >$4–5 trillion in invested assets and positive net new money momentum in 2024–2025; Investment Bank contribution varies around 20–30%.
- GWM: recurring advisory/discretionary fees, brokerage, margin lending and structured products.
- Swiss P&C Banking: NII from mortgages/SME loans, payments and cards; high-single- to low-double-digit revenue share.
- Asset Management: management/performance fees; high-single- to low-double-digit contribution with operating leverage from scale.
- IB: client-flow, capital-light activities (equities, FICC, advisory) aligned to wealth clients.
- Non-core: legacy Credit Suisse rundown with declining revenue and RWAs through 2026.
Regional and product priorities, fee mix targets and strategic actions to improve revenue quality and resilience.
Growth drivers & strategic focus
Management targets higher recurring fees and capital-light revenues via cross-selling and platform monetization while leveraging Americas and APAC for GWM fee growth; Switzerland remains NII-heavy.
- Mandate migration and tiered advisory upsell to increase advisory AUM and margins.
- Platform and product fees: ETF/indexing scale and alternatives expand fee pools.
- Cross-selling: directing AM and IB solutions into GWM client base to boost per-client revenue.
- Lending spreads and structured solutions fees to diversify yield and transactional income.
- Integration benefits: margin expansion and operating leverage as non-core assets shrink.
For context on institutional history and past mergers relevant to today's revenue mix, see Brief History of UBS.
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Which Strategic Decisions Have Shaped UBS’s Business Model?
UBS Group AG transformed rapidly after the 2023 Credit Suisse emergency acquisition, leveraging negative goodwill to strengthen capital and launch an ambitious integration; 2024 saw full integration decisions, resumed buybacks and dividends, and strong net new money in Global Wealth Management, while 2025 focused on RWA optimization, IT consolidation and legal simplification.
2023: Crisis, Acquisition, Capital Upside
UBS executed an emergency acquisition of Credit Suisse in 2023, creating the world’s largest wealth manager and Switzerland’s leading bank; recognition of substantial negative goodwill immediately bolstered CET1 and liquidity buffers.
2024: Full Integration and Confidence Signals
In 2024 UBS committed to fully integrating Credit Suisse, accelerating platform migrations and branch consolidation; it resumed share repurchases and lifted dividends, reflecting confidence in capital trajectory and improved funding metrics.
2025: Efficiency, De-risking, Simplification
2025 prioritized RWA and leverage optimization in the Investment Bank and Non-Core & Legacy, continued IT and operating-model consolidation with cumulative multi-billion cost savings tracking toward 2026 targets, and simplified legal and booking models.
Execution Challenges and Risk Response
Legacy litigation, acquired credit and market exposures, and heightened regulatory scrutiny posed material execution risk; UBS adopted rigorous de-risking, disciplined capital allocation and a 'capital-light, client-led' investment banking model.
Key strategic moves combined immediate balance-sheet repair with long-term structural changes to the UBS business model, preserving the Swiss franchise and amplifying scale in wealth management while reshaping the Investment Bank toward fee-rich, capital-efficient activities.
Competitive Edge: Scale, Funding, Network Effects
UBS now benefits from unmatched UHNW/HNW scale, a fortress Swiss franchise, diversified global fee engines and superior liquidity metrics that support client-led growth and stronger returns on regulatory capital.
- Unparalleled wealth scale: post-acquisition, Global Wealth Management serves the largest UHNW/HNW client base globally, driving recurring fees and strong net new money.
- Capital and liquidity: negative goodwill recognition in 2023 improved CET1 and funding ratios, enabling resumed buybacks and higher dividends in 2024.
- Cost and RWA discipline: multi-billion cumulative cost saves and RWA reductions in 2025 accelerate targets for 2026, improving RoTE and CET1 efficiency.
- Cross-business synergies: the combined client network enhances fee diversification across wealth, investment banking and asset management, reducing reliance on market-facing trading revenue.
Facts and metrics include resumed share repurchases and dividend increases in 2024, continued tracking of multi-billion cost saves through 2025, and targeted RWA and leverage reductions across the Investment Bank and Non-Core & Legacy; for cultural and governance context see Mission, Vision & Core Values of UBS.
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How Is UBS Positioning Itself for Continued Success?
UBS Group AG combines top-tier global wealth management, a leading Swiss retail/SME franchise, a diversified asset management platform, and a focused, flow-led investment bank; its UHNW market share strengthened after 2023 as clients sought perceived safety. The firm targets durable fee pools, integrated lending-investing solutions, and global reach to stabilize revenues across cycles.
Market leadership
UBS is the global leader in wealth management by invested assets, with over USD 4.5 trillion in invested client assets (2024). Its scale in UHNW and integrated advice enhances client retention and cross-sell.
Business breadth
Asset Management covers active, passive and alternatives; Investment Banking remains capital-light and flow-led to support wealth and corporate clients, limiting balance-sheet risk while capturing transaction fees.
Fee resilience
Global footprint and product shelf create resilient fee pools; mandate penetration, alternatives and private markets are priority growth vectors to compound recurring revenue.
Capital & efficiency targets
UBS aims for cost-to-income below 70% medium term and return on CET1 in the mid-teens, while keeping CET1 comfortably above regulatory minima and executing share buybacks/dividends when conditions permit.
Key risks stem from integration execution after the 2023 acquisition, legacy Credit Suisse litigation exposure, market/credit normalization affecting NII and deal flow, regulatory capital rules (Basel III finalization, TLAC/MREL) and operational risks during large tech migrations.
Risks & mitigation
UBS has prioritized run-down of non-core assets, multi-year cost synergies and disciplined capital deployment to mitigate risks and support returns.
- Integration and execution: targeted completion by 2026 with multi-billion CHF synergies.
- Litigation and conduct: provisions and active remediation tied to Credit Suisse legacy portfolios.
- Market & credit cycles: sensitivity of NII and transaction fees to rate/market movements.
- Regulatory capital: monitoring Basel III/TLAC outcomes to preserve capital buffers and distribution capacity.
Strategic outlook focuses on compounding fee-based revenues via mandate penetration, expanded alternatives/private markets access, and UHNW growth in APAC and the Americas, while maintaining a capital-light IB aligned to wealth clients; see further analysis in Revenue Streams & Business Model of UBS.
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- What is Brief History of UBS Company?
- What is Competitive Landscape of UBS Company?
- What is Growth Strategy and Future Prospects of UBS Company?
- What is Sales and Marketing Strategy of UBS Company?
- What are Mission Vision & Core Values of UBS Company?
- Who Owns UBS Company?
- What is Customer Demographics and Target Market of UBS Company?
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