Ermotti return 'Hollywood casting' for UBS, former top insider says

Former UBS Group executive Tom Naratil thinks current boss Sergio Ermotti is the right man to deliver the integration with Credit Suisse. 

"If you think about the challenges that UBS is facing, this is a perfect Hollywood casting moment and Sergio Ermotti is the right CEO for the challenge at UBS today," Naratil said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in New York on Thursday. 

Naratil spent almost four decades at UBS before joining the New York-based private equity firm Lightyear Capital earlier this year. He held a number of senior positions including chief financial officer and co-head of wealth management at the Swiss bank. 

UBS reappointed Ermotti as CEO to oversee the historic acquisition of Credit Suisse after the latter came close to collapse in March. The Swiss lender said at the time that Ermotti was better suited to oversee the integration than his predecessor Ralph Hamers. Ermotti previously ran UBS from 2011 to 2020.

Speaking about the outlook in his current role, Naratil said private equity managers were shying away from exiting investments through initial public offerings. "It's not over but in the current environment, it's not the preferred route because it's not the best way to secure capital and the valuations that you want to see."

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"The private equity market is certainly quite robust in terms of being a being able to evolve to different situations," he added. "I'd say today, a lot of times you can see better valuations on exits in the private space versus the public space. And until that shifts, that'll be the direction of travel."