Asset outflows and adviser losses cloud a key turnaround effort
UBS is running into growing resistance in its effort to rebuild its US wealth management franchise, as client assets leave the platform and adviser departures continue to undermine momentum in one of the bank’s most important strategic markets. The setback is particularly significant because the United States has been central to UBS’s long-term expansion plans, even as the group also deals with pressure from Swiss regulators over capital requirements following its rescue of Credit Suisse in 2023.
The bank reported net new asset outflows of 14.1 billion dollars in the Americas during the fourth quarter, leaving it with a net outflow of 6 billion dollars for the full year in the region. Those numbers matter because wealth management depends heavily on gathering assets, keeping advisers productive and expanding client relationships over time. When assets leave and advisers follow, the path to higher profitability becomes more difficult and the credibility of a turnaround story weakens.
That is why the recent trend has become a focal point for investors and analysts. UBS has made progress in improving margins in its US wealth division, but the continuing loss of assets suggests that cost discipline alone will not be enough. To persuade the market that the business is truly recovering, the bank will likely need to show that client flows are stabilizing and that adviser departures are no longer eroding its growth base.
Adviser losses are feeding pressure on the franchise
One of the clearest signs of strain has been the decline in UBS’s US adviser force. Over the past year, nearly 200 financial advisers are reported to have left the firm, often taking client assets with them to rivals including Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Charles Schwab and RBC. UBS ended 2025 with 5,772 financial advisers, down by 196 from a year earlier.
The reasons behind those exits appear to be both financial and strategic. Industry sources say advisers have been drawn away by stronger compensation packages, broader support and better growth opportunities elsewhere. Some also point to frustration with UBS after years of cost reductions, which they say weakened the resources available to teams and reduced the attractiveness of staying inside the platform.
UBS has tried to respond. The bank changed adviser compensation last year and elevated Lisa Golia in February to oversee hiring, retention and pay. But rebuilding adviser confidence is not quick work, especially in a competitive market where top teams can move with large books of business and where rivals are actively targeting disaffected UBS producers.
Margins are rising, but still lag well behind peers
The difficulty for UBS is that its broader strategy depends on lifting profitability in the United States, not merely maintaining presence there. The bank has set a target of a 15 percent pre-tax margin in its US wealth unit this year. That would represent further progress from last year, when the margin improved from 9.3 percent to 13 percent. Yet even that level would still remain well below the returns UBS generates in other parts of its global wealth franchise.
In Europe and the Middle East, the bank’s wealth management business produces a pre-tax margin of around 30 percent, while in Asia that figure is roughly 35 percent. The contrast underlines how much more work remains in the United States. UBS can point to improvement, but the gap is still too large for investors to ignore, especially when asset outflows suggest the recovery is not yet durable.
Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti has defended the effort, saying the turnaround is working and arguing that not every relationship or adviser contributes enough profit to justify the capital consumed. That message is important because it shows UBS is not trying to maximize size at any cost. It is trying to reshape the business around higher productivity and stronger economics, even if that means losing some clients and teams along the way.
Rivals are exploiting the opening while UBS waits for proof
The challenge is that competitors are taking advantage of the transition. RBC says it added 90 experienced advisers to its US wealth division in 2025, with many of the most sophisticated teams coming from UBS. Wells Fargo landed a large Boston-based team that had managed 6.3 billion dollars, while Bank of America recruited former UBS advisers in multiple markets, including Rhode Island, Texas and California. Those moves show that what UBS is trying to classify as pruning is also becoming a recruiting opportunity for rivals.
At the same time, UBS is trying to build new capabilities that could eventually strengthen the business. One important piece of the strategy is the use of its national banking charter in the United States, approved in January, which should allow the bank to offer more banking products and deepen lending relationships. Ermotti has argued that stronger loan growth and broader services can help UBS close the gap with competitors.
For now, however, the market remains unconvinced that the turnaround is secure. UBS shares have fallen sharply this year as investors await clarity on Swiss capital requirements and continue to watch the US wealth business closely. The core problem is not that the bank lacks a plan. It is that the plan still has to prove it can stop the loss of advisers and assets while raising profitability at the same time. Until that happens, the US franchise is likely to remain one of the main questions hanging over the broader UBS story.
