UBS bankers are wondering whether their Barclays bosses are worth it
Two years ago, UBS hired an array of senior investment bankers from Barclays and from Credit Suisse. Led by Marco Valla, a former Barclays' TMT banker, the Barclays hires on big guaranteed bonuses were supposed to power-up the UBS investment banking business.
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That hasn't happened.
Instead, data from Dealogic shows that in the US in particular, UBS has slipped down and down the investment banking league tables. In 2021, it ranked 5th in North America. Now it ranks 23rd.
What's gone wrong? Insiders are questioning the value of 24 senior bankers hired from Barclays, many of whom are ex-Lehman, and the 200 bankers added (globally) from Credit Suisse. They're also claiming that low morale and staff are exits are taking their toll. "Everyone's distracted by other things," says one insider. What things? "Integration, regulation, policies and cost-cutting," he explains.
UBS still has CHF4.5bn of costs to cut as it integrates Credit Suisse. In the recent round of cuts, there are unconfirmed claims of team leaders being asked to eliminate headcount at each level, so that even valued staff are cut. "The bank isn't performing," says the insider. "And good people are leaving because they don't think they're going to be paid."
Dealogic says revenues at UBS's North American investment bank have gone from $2bn in 2021 to just $258m so far this year. Insiders point to the exits of individuals like Marc Warm, UBS's global head of leveraged finance to Barclays (ironically) and of David Costel, the global co-head of coverage and healthcare to Morgan Stanley. Other exits include Jens Becker, an ex-Credit Suisse banker, who left for JPMorgan in March. And then Mark Filenbaum, an MD in healthcare banking at UBS followed Costel to Morgan Stanley last week.
The flow hasn't been entirely one way. UBS has also been hiring, and not just from Barclays. The Swiss bank's North American additions this year include Jason Larsen and David Michlovich from Bank of America for tech banking; Noel Brown and Tim Chung from RBC for biotech and Brian DeLeo from Citi for ECM.
Valla has also been back to Barclays for more hires, though. In April, Barclays veterans Kelvin Quezada and Evan Raine both arrived at the Swiss bank.
What next? Insiders at the US bank complain that the North American business is in a downwards spiral, but not necessarily. It famously takes a while for new bankers to get up to speed.
London MDs at UBS say they're doing fine by comparison. "We're ok in Europe and Asia - not great, but OK," says one MD. "There's a lot of rivalry in the US," he adds. "- Cliques from UBS, Credit Suisse and Barclays...."
UBS declined to comment.
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