New UBS CEO Hamers tells staff to be flexible, agile, focused

ZURICH (Reuters) – New UBS Chief Executive Ralph Hamers told staff to stay healthy and focus on clients as Switzerland’s biggest bank presses through the coronavirus pandemic.

On his first day as boss of UBS, the former ING head said in a video https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphhamers posted on Monday that his first priority was “making sure we all get through this crisis”.

Hamers, who is taking over as CEO of the world’s biggest wealth manager from Sergio Ermotti, said his priorities also included ensuring UBS continues to deliver good results and finding ways to do even better.

“And in order to ensure that we continue to be so successful delivering our services to them, we have to be flexible. We have to be agile. And that’s what I expect from you,” he said.

He said UBS’s “very good results” so far this year showed it had a bright future and the right business model.

“So the foundation is there. We have a very solid performance. And that gives us all the options for the future.”

(Reporting by Oliver Hirt; Writing by Michael Shields; Editing by Alexander Smith)