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UBS Names former Merrill Lynch executive Robert J. McCann as CEO Wealth Management Americas

By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:October 27, 2009

UBS AG (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N), the Swiss bank seeking to stem outflows of clients funds, hired former Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE:AMO) executive Robert J. McCann as the head of wealth management in the Americas.

Mr. McCann immediately replaces former U.S. wealth-management head Marten Hoekstra, who will leave UBS.

The appointment of the 51-year-old Merrill Lynch veteran at UBS Wealth Management Americas, which had net new money outflows of 5.8 billion Swiss francs ($5.8 billion) in the second quarter had been widely expected.

Just last month, McCann took BofA to court over the bank’s efforts to prevent him from joining rival UBS. McCann claimed in court that he was fired from BofA after it bought Merrill Lynch in January, leaving him free to begin working at a rival firm six months later. But Bank of America was trying to make him wait until the end of January, when it said his noncompete agreement ends.

McCann left Merrill Lynch in January after 26 years at the firm. He was most recently president of global wealth management. “Coming to UBS is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a leading global wealth manager. It is a firm that I always considered to be a tough competitor and I will add my energy and ideas to the turnaround underway,” McCann said in a statement.

McCann, commenting to journalists after his appointment was made public, also said that Marten Hoesktra, who has led the unit since 2005, will leave the bank altogether.

While denying UBS plans to sell the brokerage unit, McCann also said the Swiss bank would initially largely stay on the sidelines of consolidation in the U.S. brokerage industry. Instead, he said his focus lies on retaining existing brokers, restoring client trust, hiking revenue and slashing costs.

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Tagged with: Merrill Lynch, Robert J. McCann, UBS

moneycometh

I never heard the part about UBS potentially being sold. Man, what an interesting topic. Hopefully, things turn out well, in the long run, so that they won't have to sell it.