UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti is planning to step down in April 2027 according to reports.
Ermotti, who returned to run UBS in 2023 following its state-orchestrated takeover of Credit Suisse, intends to leave after leading the integration of the two lenders, people familiar with the matter have told the Financial Times.
The 65-year-old is preparing to depart at a crucial time for UBS as it fights Swiss government plans to tighten its capital requirements, a dispute that has fuelled speculation that Switzerland’s biggest lender could move its headquarters abroad.
Ermotti was parachuted into the top job at UBS — a role he previously held for nine years until 2020 — by chair Colm Kelleher just weeks after it agreed to rescue its former rival from the brink of collapse.
The timetable for Ermotti’s departure around the time of its annual general meeting next year will kick off the succession race in earnest for one of the most coveted roles in banking.
Potential Successors
Aleksandar Ivanovic, UBS’s asset management chief, has emerged as one of the executives most likely to succeed Ermotti, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ivanovic, a Swiss national who was elevated to the group’s executive board in March 2024, is the latest executive to emerge as a contender, having impressed the bank’s management in running its asset management division.
The other leading candidates are UBS’s wealth management co-heads Iqbal Khan and Robert Karofsky. Bea Martin, who was announced as the bank’s chief operating officer in October, is also seen as a contender.
Ermotti committed to spending three to five years as chief executive when he returned in 2023, the FT previously reported. He was tasked with overseeing the complex integration of Credit Suisse and developing a growth strategy for the combined group, as well as nurturing a pool of successors.
The integration, which saw UBS inherit Credit Suisse’s litany of regulatory and legal problems, has mostly gone smoothly and the bank’s share price has doubled during Ermotti’s tenure.
But his second stint in charge has been overshadowed by a public dispute with the Swiss government over its plan to increase UBS’s capital requirements by about $24bn, which analysts and investors have said has weighed on its share price.
UBS said on Monday that the proposals would “jeopardise” its success. Implementing the reforms, which could be finalised before Ermotti is replaced, will be at the top of the new boss’s in-tray.
Khan, a former Credit Suisse executive, has long been viewed as the most likely successor to Ermotti. He joined UBS after clashing with his former employer and its boss Tidjane Thiam, alleging that the lender had hired private detectives who chased him through Zurich.
Khan, who later reached a settlement with Credit Suisse, moved to Hong Kong in 2024 to become UBS’s head of Asia-Pacific.
Martin was recently promoted to chief operating officer after leading UBS’s non-core and legacy unit, which handles winding down and disposing of unwanted parts of Credit Suisse.
