UBS reported a slight decline in Americas-based advisors since the end of last year as it undergoes a multi-year effort to restructure its U.S. wealth division to better meet client needs, according to company comments on first-quarter earnings.
UBS reported 5,884 advisors in the Americas, which includes the U.S., Canada and Latin America, at the end of the first quarter, down about 1.4% compared to the 5,968 it reported at the end of 2024.
CFO Todd Tuckner said on a call with investors that the volatility in advisor headcount was expected.
“We’re executing at pace on our plans and our strategy,” he said. “Quarter-on-quarter, we could see volatility. But this said, we’re looking at our ambition to achieve … a structural mid-teen pretax margin, and we look at that as a two- to three-year journey.”
At the end of last year, UBS reorganized its U.S. wealth-management divisions, moving from two divisions to four regional units.
Tuckner said UBS expected to lose some advisors in the U.S. and characterized the firm’s recruiting pipeline as “robust.” He also said market conditions in 2025 were creating “some movement across the industry in terms of advisor repositioning.”
UBS’s advisors in the Americas drew in $10.2 billion in new money, which Tucker said was the strongest in many quarters.
Overall, quarterly revenue for the Americas wealth division grew 10% year over year to $3 billion. Net income also rose 5% to $513 million year over year.
In a follow-up to the earnings on Wednesday, UBS noted that in 2025, it is building a centralized wealth planning function, including hiring more advanced financial planners and wealth planning associates. It is also launching an insurance solutions concierge desk and creating “multidisciplinary pods” in every region focused on assisting the wealthiest clients.
In terms of cultivating younger talent, the firm noted investing in its wealth advice center, which acts as a pipeline for younger planners to join advisor teams. That division is targeting 200 hires by the end of 2025.
“With our new leadership team in place, we’re investing in our business to position our advisors for growth, with faster decision-making, enhanced responsiveness to client needs, and greater connectivity with our full client offering,” the firm said in a statement.
Net quarterly profit for Zurich-based UBS was $1.69 billion, or 62 cents a share, compared with analyst forecasts of 43 cents a share, according to Seeking Alpha. Total revenue was $12.56 billion versus expectations of $11.75 billion.
The Swiss bank signaled uncertainty for its businesses due to the U.S.’s shifting tariff campaign.
“The prospect of higher tariffs on global trade presents a material risk to global growth and inflation, clouding the interest rate outlook,” the bank wrote.