UBS is shaking up its wealth management executive ranks, bringing in Morgan Stanley's Paul Hatch as group managing director and head of advice and solutions as well as restructuring several positions, moves that the brass says will better serve advisors and clients, according to a memo sent Thursday morning.
Bob Mulholland, head of UBS Wealth Management Americas Client Advisory Group, says the grab is a "real coup" for UBS.
"He's a total seasoned professional in product solutions and he has particular expertise in managed assets, which is important to us," says Mulholland, who adds that it's good for the firm to bring in "fresh eyes."
Hatch, a three-decade veteran of the industry, most recently worked on developing client offerings for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. He will report directly to Robert McCann, CEO of UBS Group Americas.
UBS's advisors will now be overseen by Bill Carroll and Jason Chandler, who previously had sole responsibility for roughly 7,000 UBS advisors in his role as head of the firm's advisor group. Chandler will now head an eastern group as well as UBS Canada and Wealth Management Americas International. Carroll will take over as head of the western group.
Mulholland claims the changes, the most significant in the past two years, should bring executives closer to their advisors and, by extension, the firms' clients.
"You use their resources as you best can, and they are the best resources we have for our advisors and clients," he says.
Four executives John Brown, head of middle markets; David McWilliams, head of wealth management transformation; Mike Ryan, chief investment strategist and regional CIO; and Tom Troy, head of capital markets will report to Hatch, according to the memo.
UBS' executive shuffle follows a recent shakeup at Morgan Stanley, which saw Eric Benedict named head of private wealth management, serving the firm's high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
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