Investment

Exclusive: UBS nears major investment bank restructuring

Published

1 year ago

August 5, 2023

NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) – UBS Group AG (UBSG.S) is poised to make sweeping changes to the senior ranks of its investment banking division globally as soon as Monday, marking a new milestone in the process of integrating Credit Suisse, people familiar with the matter said.

The changes are aimed at producing unified teams following the completion of UBS’s emergency takeover in June of Credit Suisse.

The changes are broad and involve several dealmaking groups, including healthcare, consumer/retail, financial sponsors and equity capital markets, the sources said.

Under the shake-up some Credit Suisse bankers will take on bigger roles in the combined company while some others leave, the sources said. Some UBS bankers will leave the firm as a result of the reshuffling, the sources said.

The restructuring is the latest move by CEO Sergio Ermotti to integrate UBS and Credit Suisse in a process that the bank has said would be painful, with tens of thousands of jobs hanging in the balance.

One of the team heads who is in discussions about potentially exiting is UBS’s global head of consumer products and retail deals, Jeff Rose, two of the sources said. Jon Levin, who has served as Credit Suisse’s head of retail investment banking, is in talks to replace him, the sources added.

Matt Eilers, UBS’s global head of financial sponsors, is also in talks about possibly leaving, two of the sources said. Rob DiGia, UBS’s global head of healthcare, will remain with the bank and is in talks about assuming a chairman-level role, according to two separate sources among those familiar with the matter.

The sources cautioned that the changes have not been finalized and details of restructuring remained in flux. They asked not to be identified ahead of an official announcement. Rose, Levin, Eilers and DiGia did not respond to requests for comment. A UBS spokeswoman declined to comment.

Reuters reported earlier on Friday on the reshuffling of one of the teams, UBS’s technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) group. The bank is in talks to name Laurence Braham, who joined the Swiss bank from Barclays Plc (BARC.L) earlier this year, as global co-head of technology, people familiar with the matter said.

His co-head would be Christian Lesueur, who has been global head of TMT investment banking, the sources added. Steve Pettigrew, who just joined UBS from Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), would be leading software M&A under Braham, according to the sources. Neil Meyer, who worked alongside Braham at Barclays and followed him to UBS, would co-lead media and communications dealmaking globally alongside Lesueur, the sources said.

UBS has been trying to regain dealmaking market share. It ranked eighth in Refinitiv’s global mergers and acquisitions league table in the first half of 2023, down from sixth a year earlier. In the Americas, UBS was 14th in the first half, down from seventh a year earlier.

UBS’s savings targets and indications from insiders and analysts suggest it might be looking at cutting about a third of the combined group’s global workforce, or some 30,000-35,000 jobs, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Reporting by Abigail Summerville, Milana Vinn and David Carnevali in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler

Investment

Tesla shares soar more than 14% as Trump win is seen boosting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

Published

14 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.

Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.

The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.

Tesla began selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16.1% gain for the year after rising the past two days.

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Investment

S&P/TSX composite up more than 100 points, U.S. stock markets mixed

Published

3 weeks ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.

The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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Economy

S&P/TSX up more than 200 points, U.S. markets also higher

Published

4 weeks ago

October 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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