UBS continues to bleed assets as advisor departures slow

UBS' Americas wealth management unit reported $14 billion in net new asset (NNA) outflows in the fourth quarter, its worst period for flows since announcing changes to its compensation structure in November 2024.

Asset losses accelerated in 2025 as ongoing cost cuts and compensation overhauls continued to drive advisor departures.

Advisor headcount was little changed from the prior quarter but fell 3.3% from a year earlier, to 5,772 advisors, the firm said Wednesday.

On Wednesday's earnings call, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said that he expects net new assets in the firm's Americas wealth management unit, which includes the U.S., Canada and Latin America, will be positive in 2026.

"We do expect further [net new asset] headwinds through the first half of 2026, after which we expect net recruiting outflow impacts to materially taper," UBS Chief Financial Officer Todd Tuckner said on the call.

Despite heavy outflows, UBS Americas' pretax profit nearly doubled from a year earlier, reaching $417 million, helped by a 9.4% rise in revenue to $3.2 billion.

Expenses edged up modestly to $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter, a 2.5% increase from the same period last year. Strong market performance offset some of the net new asset outflows, pushing total assets under management up 8% year over year to nearly $2.3 trillion.

READ MORE: In UBS push for US wealth biz, Nazi accounts remain thorn in its side

One loss after another

Last February, Tuckner warned that compensation changes, including reduced payout rates for lower-producing wealth managers, could drive higher-than-normal advisor turnover.

In November, UBS lost multiple major advisory teams, including a duo managing $6 billion in client assets. That same month, another team managing some $3.7 billion left UBS to join Morgan Stanley.

Big departures continued into the end of the year, with a $6.3 billion team leaving UBS for Wells Fargo in December. In the final days of the year, another $1 billion team broke off from UBS to join Rockefeller Capital Management.

Amid ongoing departures, UBS introduced three new training programs in November for advisors in a bid to strengthen its talent pipeline.

U.S. wealth head Mike Camacho said the initiatives include a three-year training program for new advisors, the creation of an associate financial advisor role and a new offering for advisors who work on teams. UBS began accepting applications and nominations for all three in January.

"They reflect our dedication to investing in our Financial Advisor teams, strengthening our talent pipeline and providing clear, structured pathways for career advancement," Camacho said in the memo.

READ MORE: RBC pulls $770M team from UBS: Advisor Moves

UBS under pressure over Nazi-era accounts

Alongside wealth management challenges, UBS is facing renewed scrutiny over roughly 890 Credit Suisse accounts potentially tied to Nazis, including those held by Germany's Foreign Office and SS members, an independent investigator told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

The findings raise questions about whether the Swiss banks fully disclosed their wartime activities under a $1.3 billion 1990s settlement with Jewish groups.

UBS, which bought Credit Suisse in 2023, is seeking a court order to prevent Jewish organizations from reopening the settlement or pursuing additional payments. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which asked for the Credit Suisse probe, has said the bank's request could block new information from coming to light.

The dispute adds another challenge for UBS as it works to stabilize its U.S. wealth management business and curb asset outflows, with a court hearing scheduled for March.