With its net asset inflows back in positive territory in the first quarter, UBS reported rising revenue and profits for its wealth management business in North and South America.
UBS began seeing
Advisor departures have 'lag effect,' says CEO
Even so, the advisor headcount for UBS' Americas unit, which includes the U.S., Canada and Latin America, declined again in the first quarter. It fell to 5,722, down less than 1% from the fourth quarter of 2025 and about 3% from the first quarter a year ago.
In a call with analysts on Wednesday, CEO Sergio Ermotti was asked whether he expects accelerated advisor departures in the second half of the year.
"I'd just say we're comfortable with the steps we're taking to drive positive full year [net new assets] while recognizing there's a lag effect from previously announced [financial advisor] movement that continues to show up in flows for a few quarters," he replied. "That said, we're actively recruiting and investing in teams aligned with our profitability ambitions."
Ermotti noted most of the net asset flows in the first quarter came from "same-store sales," meaning existing rather than recently recruited advisors.
"So that tells me the strategy is working," he said.
UBS pins profit goals on national banking charter
Even with the fall in net new assets, UBS saw net revenue for its Americas unit rise by nearly 9% year over year to $3.27 billion in the first quarter. Its operating profits before taxes were up by 25% to $448 million.
Many of the changes UBS has made to its advisor compensation and other policies in recent years have been aimed at making its Americas wealth business more profitable. The unit's pretax profit margin — or the proportion of revenue left over after the deduction of expenses — was up by more than a percentage point in the first quarter to nearly 14%.
Ermotti told analysts that the Americas unit's profit margin has improved six quarters in a row. He also noted that the Americas unit has also improved its bottom line by increasing lending to clients for eight quarters in a row.
UBS recently gave its U.S. banking operations a boost by obtaining a national bank charter.
Even before the new charter, UBS had been placing a greater emphasis on offering banking services through its Americas wealth division, Ermotti said Wednesday.
"And that's been driving some of the results that we keep seeing quarter-on-quarter in banking," he said.
"Having a license will only accelerate that," Ermotti added. "It will also help to shape the deposit side of the balance sheet even better because it will create the opportunity to have more operational deposits and reshape the loan-to-deposit ratio in a way that will help to create a pretax margin accretion."
Profitability and invested assets
UBS executives have sought to temper expectations about the Americas unit's profitability by noting that many of its rivals' higher margins are a result of their extensive business operations in the U.S. For example, Morgan Stanley, which has divisions dedicated to providing workplace benefits, along with E-Trade for self-directed investors, has a pretax margin of around 30% in its wealth management unit.
With its recovery in net asset inflows, the Americas unit's total for invested assets was up by more than 7% year over year to $2.24 trillion. Invested assets include institutional assets, advisory portfolios, savings accounts and securities and brokerage accounts.
Of those assets, roughly $1.16 trillion were in fee-generating accounts, a figure up nearly 10% year over year. Fee-generating assets are particularly prized for their ability to generate steady streams of revenue regardless of economic conditions.
Chief Financial Officer Todd Tuckner told analysts Wednesday the inflows of new assets could be held back in the second quarter by U.S. clients' setting money aside to pay taxes.
Even so, "We continue to expect net new assets in the Americas to be positive, supported by both same-store growth and a healthy recruiting pipeline," he said.
