UBS Asia builds on last year’s bumper performance with a strong start to 2021 but boss cautions on bonuses
- Asia-Pacific contributed quarter of the Swiss lender’s 2020 pre-tax profits
- Talks ongoing regarding raising stake in China securities joint venture to 66 per cent
Swiss bank UBS is off to a strong start to the year in Asia, with profits tracking even higher than last year’s blockbuster performance, but regional boss Edmund Koh tamped down staff expectations of blowout bonuses.
“The beginning of the year has actually been stronger than last year … But let’s see, it’s still very early,” said Koh, who heads UBS in the Asia-Pacific region during an interview with the Post.
On banker bonuses, Koh said UBS would be prudent. It evens out staff compensation across good and bad years, so employees should not “get carried away, just because we’ve doubled our [regional] profits.”
As it weighs payouts, UBS also considers rewarding shareholders via dividends and buy-backs. That being said, “most [staff] should be happy”, said Koh, a Singaporean who has risen through the ranks at the world’s largest wealth manager by assets after joining the company in 2012.
