UBS executives have reassured senior bankers that it will raise pay to attract and retain top staff after suffering a spate of defections from its US investment bank.
Carsten Kengeter, head of UBS’s investment bank, and other senior executives have been bruised by speculation that the group’s advisory and debt and equity underwriting businesses in the US are struggling after more than 15 bankers quit to join rivals in recent months.
The Swiss group, which still faces intense pressure in Switzerland over pay after it was bailed out by the government during the financial crisis, will work harder to match market rates in locations including New York and Hong Kong, where competition is fiercer than in other financial centres, bankers said.