6-K 1 investorpreso20241101.htm investorpreso3q24
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_________________
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE
 
ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date: November 1, 2024
UBS Group AG
(Registrant's Name)
Bahnhofstrasse 45, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
(Address of principal executive office)
Commission File Number: 1-36764
UBS AG
(Registrant's Name)
Bahnhofstrasse 45, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Aeschenvorstadt 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
 
(Address of principal executive offices)
Commission File Number: 1-15060
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrants file or will file annual
 
reports under cover of Form
20-F or Form 40-
F.
Form 20-F
 
 
Form 40-F
 
This Form 6-K consists of the transcripts of the 3Q24 Earnings call remarks
 
and Analyst Q&A, which
appear immediately following this page.
 
1
Third quarter 2024 results
 
30 October 2024
Speeches by
Sergio P.
 
Ermotti
, Group Chief Executive Officer,
 
and
Todd
 
Tuckner
,
Group Chief Financial
 
Officer
Including analyst
 
Q&A session
Transcript.
Numbers for slides refer to the third quarter 2024 results presentation.
 
Materials and a webcast
replay are available at
 
www.ubs.com/investors
 
Sergio P.
 
Ermotti
Slide 3 – Key messages
 
Thank you, Sarah and good morning,
 
everyone.
 
Our strong financial
 
performance in the quarter,
 
with a net profit
 
of 1.4 billion and
 
an underlying PBT of
 
2.4
billion,
 
together
 
with
 
our
 
year-to-date
 
results,
 
demonstrates
 
the
 
power
 
of
 
our
 
unique
 
client
 
franchises,
diversified business model and global scale.
 
It also represents continued progress on the integration. This brings us two
 
important benefits.
 
First, it increases our confidence level in achieving
 
our short- and medium-term financial targets.
 
Second, it allows us to offer the full range of services
 
of the combined bank, and to stay even closer
 
to clients.
We are
 
better positioned than
 
ever to help
 
them navigate a market
 
background that, while
 
constructive, still
exhibits periods of high volatility and dislocation.
Our
 
commitment
 
to
 
serving
 
clients
 
is
 
reflected
 
in
 
a
 
9%
 
year-on-year
 
increase
 
in
 
underlying
 
revenues,
 
with
notable strength in the Americas and APAC.
 
Invested assets across the Group increased
 
by 15% year-on-year to 6.2 trillion. This shows
 
that our wealth and
asset management clients
 
continue to value
 
the capabilities we
 
provide across our advice
 
platform and the
 
way
in which we consistently innovate to meet their
 
needs.
 
One excellent example
 
is the positive
 
client and General
 
Partner reaction to
 
the launch of
 
our Unified Global
Alternatives unit, which has created a top-5 player
 
in Alternatives.
 
In Switzerland, while
 
we faced the
 
expected headwinds
 
on Net Interest Income,
 
we continued to
 
deliver on our
commitment to acting
 
as a
 
safe and
 
reliable provider
 
of credit
 
to the
 
economy,
 
with around
 
35 billion Swiss
francs of loans granted or renewed in the quarter.
 
Within
 
the
 
Investment
 
Bank,
 
our
 
investments
 
in
 
Global
 
Markets
 
supported
 
robust
 
performance
 
in
 
Equities,
notably in the Americas.
2
And in Global
 
Banking, we maintained
 
our momentum in
 
Advisory as we
 
outperformed the global
 
M&A fee
pools for the third consecutive quarter. As importantly, our M&A pipeline continues to build.
Turning back to the integration. The finalization of our preparation work during the quarter allowed us, in the
last two weeks of October, to successfully achieve another milestone. We moved
 
all of the client accounts and
data in Luxembourg and Hong Kong onto UBS
 
platforms.
 
The next significant milestones
 
for 2024 are the client
 
account migrations in Singapore
 
and Japan, expected
 
by
year-end. We
 
will then kick-off the next phase of
 
Swiss migrations in the second quarter of 2025, positioning
us well to enhance the client experience and unlock further cost reductions towards the end of 2025 and into
2026.
In
 
Non-core
 
and
 
Legacy,
 
we
 
continue
 
to
 
simplify
 
our
 
operations
 
through
 
book
 
closures
 
and
 
the
decommissioning of applications. This has
 
supported the significant year-to-date reductions in costs.
 
And thanks to our active wind-down efforts, the natural runoff profile
 
of the remaining positions is already in
line
 
with
 
our
 
2026
 
risk-weighted
 
asset
 
ambition.
 
At
 
the
 
same
 
time,
 
we
 
remain
 
focused
 
on
 
identifying
opportunities
 
to
 
further
 
improve
 
the
 
rundown
 
profile,
 
but
 
will
 
continue
 
to
 
do
 
so
 
without
 
compromising
economic value creation.
 
The overall
 
disciplined progress
 
on the
 
integration, including
 
the completion
 
of the
 
legal entity
 
mergers, has
significantly mitigated the execution risk of
 
the Credit Suisse acquisition.
This, combined with the strong performance of our businesses, has allowed us to
 
generate capital well ahead
of our plan and guidance.
 
As we
 
prudently assess future
 
capital requirements,
 
business plans and
 
profitability for the
 
coming years, we
feel it
 
is important
 
our current
 
Group
 
capital position
 
better reflects
 
excess capital
 
available for
 
growth and
returns to shareholders.
 
Consequently, we have voluntarily accelerated the phase-out of the remaining transitional capital adjustments
agreed with our regulator, which we had disclosed upon the closing of the acquisition.
 
This brings our CET1 capital ratio to 14.3%, more in line with our guidance while maintaining a strong capital
position and a balance sheet for all seasons.
 
This buffer was never
 
considered for distribution
 
and its removal has
 
no impact on our
 
ability to execute on
 
the
ongoing 2024 share buyback, nor on our medium-term
 
ambitions for dividends and buybacks.
 
As already
 
communicated, we
 
will provide
 
more detail
 
on our
 
2025 capital
 
return plans,
 
including the
 
continued
execution of buybacks, with our fourth-quarter
 
results.
 
Our ambition for 2026 capital returns to exceed pre-acquisition
 
levels is unchanged, subject to our assessment
of any proposed requirements from Switzerland’s ongoing review of its capital regime.
 
I want to emphasize that our focus extends
 
beyond meeting the current needs of our clients,
 
executing on the
integration and delivering on our short-term
 
plans.
 
We
 
are
 
also
 
preparing
 
for
 
the
 
future
 
by
 
continuing
 
to
 
invest
 
in
 
our
 
people,
 
products
 
and
 
capabilities
 
to
strengthen our client offerings and position our businesses
 
for long-term growth.
3
This includes
 
investing in
 
our industry-leading
 
cloud infrastructure
 
as well
 
as our
 
expertise in
 
artificial intelligence
and automation. This will accelerate Generative
 
AI adoption, increasing efficiency and effectiveness.
 
One example of the many ways we are leveraging AI is through Microsoft Copilot. With
 
50,000 licenses being
rolled out
 
between now
 
and the
 
end of
 
the first
 
quarter, we are
 
implementing the
 
largest deployment
 
of Copilot
within the global financial services industry to
 
date.
 
Another example is Red, a
 
proprietary new AI assistant that
 
provides 20,000 employees in
 
Switzerland, Hong
Kong, and Singapore with easy access to UBS product
 
information and investment research.
 
In the
 
Investment Bank,
 
we are
 
piloting a
 
proprietary AI
 
algorithm that
 
researches and
 
compiles potential
 
merger
and acquisition buy-side targets.
In
 
these, and
 
the many
 
other AI
 
deployments that
 
are
 
underway across
 
the entire
 
firm,
 
we are
 
focused on
responsible AI as we provide our people with tools that
 
will help them better manage their businesses.
 
Even as new technology
 
is changing the way
 
we work, our people
 
will remain the most
 
important driver of
 
our
success.
 
That is why
 
I am particularly
 
pleased with the
 
positive results from a
 
recent employee survey
 
which, by the
 
way,
is an important testament to the progress we have made
 
on the integration.
 
84% say they are proud to work for UBS, and 83% would recommend UBS as an employer
 
– both well above
industry benchmarks.
 
We have
 
achieved a lot
 
over the last
 
18 months as
 
we are
 
building a stronger
 
and even safer
 
version of UBS
that all of our key stakeholders can be proud of.
 
But there is
 
no room for complacency.
 
We are just
 
about halfway to restoring
 
pre-acquisition levels of profits
and returns on capital and the journey
 
won’t be a straight line.
 
In
 
the
 
short-term,
 
in
 
addition
 
to
 
seasonality,
 
ongoing
 
global
 
macroeconomic
 
developments,
 
geopolitical
conflicts and the upcoming US elections
 
create uncertainties that are likely to affect investor behavior.
 
We continue to
 
help clients navigate
 
this environment, and
 
I remain confident
 
in our ability
 
to deliver on
 
our
financial targets as we
 
position UBS for long-term,
 
sustainable growth and remain a
 
pillar of economic support
in the communities where we live and work.
With that, I hand over to Todd.
 
 
 
4
Todd
 
Tuckner
Slide 5 – Strong revenue momentum with lower costs driving positive
 
operating leverage
Thank you Sergio, and good morning
 
everyone.
Throughout my remarks, I will refer to underlying results in US dollars
 
unless stated otherwise.
Also, starting today, I compare our performance to the prior-year
 
quarter since we now have fully comparable
year-over-year
 
information for
 
the
 
first
 
time
 
since
 
the Credit
 
Suisse acquisition
 
last
 
year.
 
I
 
continue to
 
offer
sequential insights on
 
balance sheet, net
 
interest income
 
developments, and our
 
progress towards
 
achieving
our gross cost save targets by the end of 2026.
 
Starting on slide 5. Profit before tax in the quarter increased over two-and-half times to 2.4
 
billion with strong
operating leverage improvement year-over-year,
 
contributing to a return on CET1 capital
 
of 9.4%.
Total
 
revenues
 
rose
 
by
 
9%
 
to
 
11.7 billion
 
driven
 
by
 
momentum
 
in
 
our
 
asset
 
gathering
 
businesses
 
and
Investment
 
Bank.
 
At
 
the
 
same
 
time,
 
operating
 
expenses
 
declined
 
by
 
4%
 
to
 
9.2 billion
 
as
 
we
 
continued
 
to
execute on our integration and efficiency plans.
These results also contribute to a strong year-to-date
 
performance, with a 9-month pre-tax profit of 7.1 billion
and a return on CET1 capital of 9.2%.
Slide 6 – 3Q24 net profit 1.4bn, while integration continues
 
at pace
Turning to slide 6, which illustrates our progress in improving profitability over the last year.
 
The net profit for the quarter was 1.4 billion with an
 
EPS of 43 cents.
 
As illustrated on the
 
slide, the increase in
 
underlying pre-tax profit was driven
 
by higher revenues paired
 
with
lower costs and CLE.
On a
 
reported basis,
 
PBT was
 
1.9 billion including
 
0.7 billion of
 
purchase price
 
allocation adjustments
 
in our
core businesses, and integration-related expenses of 1.1
 
billion.
Our tax expense in the third quarter was 502 million,
 
representing an effective rate of 26%.
 
For the fourth
 
quarter, we expect additional revenues
 
from purchase price allocation
 
adjustments of
 
0.5 billion,
integration-related expenses of 1.2 billion and an
 
effective tax rate of around 35%.
 
Slide 7 – Underlying operating expenses flat
 
QoQ excluding currency effects
Turning to our quarterly cost update on slide 7.
 
Operating
 
expenses
 
increased
 
by
 
2%
 
quarter-on-quarter,
 
and
 
were
 
flat
 
excluding
 
the
 
effects
 
of
 
US
 
dollar
softness against the Swiss franc and pound Sterling, in which we incur substantial personnel costs. When also
excluding increased variable
 
compensation linked to
 
revenues and lower
 
litigation reserve releases,
 
operating
expenses reduced by around 200 million sequentially, or 2%. This was supported by a
 
lower, overall employee
count, which fell sequentially by another fourteen hundred, or 1%, to below 132,000. The total staff count is
down 25 thousand, or 16%, from our 2022 baseline.
 
 
5
Our underlying cost-income ratio dropped
 
by two points sequentially to
 
78.5% and has improved
 
by over 10
points compared
 
to the
 
same quarter
 
last year.
 
This performance
 
highlights the
 
substantial progress
 
to date
and outlines the path forward to reach our target ratio of
 
under 70% by the end of 2026.
As in
 
prior years,
 
we expect
 
in 4Q
 
a modest
 
sequential uptick
 
in our
 
operating expenses
 
for select
 
non-personnel
items, including the UK bank levy and regional marketing
 
spend.
Slide 8 – Achieved >50% of gross cost save ambition
Moving on to slide
 
8. In the third
 
quarter,
 
we achieved 750 million in additional, annualized
 
gross cost saves,
putting us past the halfway mark towards our 13 billion
 
goal.
 
As expected, the
 
pace of saves moderately
 
slowed this quarter as
 
we continued the intensive
 
work necessary
to effectively
 
dismantle the
 
infrastructure of
 
a
 
former G-SIB.
 
In particular,
 
we completed
 
preparation of
 
the
client account and platform migrations
 
in our Asian wealth
 
franchise and continued readiness efforts
 
relating
to our Swiss booking center - by far
 
our largest - that are
 
planned for next year.
 
This phase of the integration
requires fully staffed teams across regions to minimize client disruption and maintain
 
operational efficiency.
The comparatively
 
smaller saves
 
this quarter
 
are a
 
reflection of
 
these concerted
 
efforts along
 
with higher
 
variable
compensation, FX headwinds and
 
more moderate cost
 
progress in
 
NCL after a
 
year of very
 
strong sequential
achievements.
As we continue our client
 
account and platform migration
 
work across our divisions
 
and regions in the months
ahead, we estimate sequential cost saves
 
to be similarly sized.
 
We expect the pace
 
to pick-up again once
 
this
critical integration phase is complete and we can then
 
fully benefit from decommissioning software, hardware
and data centers, and by unlocking further
 
staff capacity.
By the end of this year,
 
we plan to have delivered
 
around 7.5 billion in annualized gross cost saves
 
versus our
2022 baseline and cumulative integration-related expenses
 
of around 9 billion.
 
Slide 9 – Strong capital position supporting growth and
 
capital return ambitions
Now to Slide
 
9, where I
 
unpack our capital
 
position. We ended
 
the third
 
quarter with a
 
CET1 capital ratio
 
of
14.3%, slightly above our guidance of around 14%.
 
As Sergio
 
highlighted, the sequential
 
decrease this
 
quarter results from
 
our decision to
 
accelerate the phase-
out
 
of
 
the
 
PPA-related
 
transitional capital
 
adjustment, which
 
led
 
to
 
a
 
65-basis point
 
reduction
 
in
 
our
 
CET1
capital ratio. Without this voluntary
 
acceleration, the ratio at the end of the
 
quarter would have been 14.9%.
As many of you will remember from
 
last year,
 
the acquisition accounting standard required us to fair
 
value all
of Credit Suisse’s
 
assets and liabilities
 
at closing. This
 
purchase price allocation
 
process also resulted
 
in fair value
discounts applied
 
to select Credit
 
Suisse positions, such
 
as fixed-rate
 
Swiss mortgages and
 
certain term
 
note
liabilities, which were driven solely by interest-rate and own credit effects.
Accordingly, these fair value adjustments,
 
totaling to
 
negative 5 billion
 
net of tax
 
effects, were expected
 
to fully
reverse into
 
income, or
 
pull-to-par,
 
over time.
 
Given the
 
temporary nature
 
of these
 
adjustments, we
 
agreed
with our regulator at closing to amortize
 
the resulting capital reduction on a
 
linear basis over a 4-year period.
This
 
shielded
 
our
 
capital
 
from
 
significant
 
accounting-driven
 
volatility,
 
at
 
least
 
during
 
the
 
first
 
phase
 
of
 
the
integration process.
 
Our decision
 
this quarter
 
to accelerate
 
the phase-out
 
of the
 
residual balance
 
of 3.4 billion
 
reflects the
 
significant
progress we’ve made to date
 
across our integration agenda, including
 
the successful merger of
 
the two parent
banks last quarter. This decision also underscores our confidence moving forward.
 
 
6
Moreover, by accelerating
 
the phase-out
 
of the
 
transitional capital
 
adjustment on
 
the aforementioned
 
positions,
the remaining PPA
 
discount, like all other pull-to-par revenues, will now fully accrete into
 
our capital in future
periods, reversing the impact seen in this quarter’s
 
results.
 
Specifically,
 
we
 
expect
 
to
 
recognize
 
total
 
pull-to-par
 
revenues
 
of
 
6.4 billion
 
over
 
the
 
next
 
several
 
years,
benefitting our net
 
profit, equity, and CET1 capital. Within
 
this, 80% is set
 
to accrete back by
 
the end of 2028,
of which 3 and a half billion by the end of 2026.
Notably, the requirement to
 
fair value
 
the positions
 
subject to
 
the transitional
 
capital adjustment
 
had no
 
bearing
on the Credit Suisse parent
 
bank or its standalone capital
 
position. Hence, it’s important
 
to emphasize that our
decision this quarter is
 
equally neutral to the
 
regulatory capital position
 
of UBS AG,
 
now that the
 
two parent
banks have
 
merged. We
 
expect UBS
 
AG’s standalone,
 
fully-applied CET1
 
capital ratio
 
to be
 
a strong
 
13.3%
when we publish our report next week.
A
 
brief
 
update on
 
Basel 3
 
finalization as
 
we continue
 
to assess
 
the effects
 
of the
 
Swiss implementation
 
on
January 1st. While we’ll present the final details with our 4Q results in February,
 
our latest estimate is that the
RWA
 
impact will
 
be a
 
low single
 
digit percentage
 
of total
 
Group
 
RWA.
 
This is
 
revised
 
down from
 
our prior
guidance of around 5%, and
 
is now expected to reduce
 
our CET1 capital ratio by
 
around 30 basis points upon
implementation next year.
Slide 10 – Balance sheet for all seasons
Now, moving on to
 
Slide 10. While
 
our strong capital
 
position is a
 
key pillar of
 
our strategy, starting this quarter
I offer a more comprehensive picture of our balance sheet and the structural drivers that contribute to making
it a balance sheet for all seasons.
 
As of the end
 
of the third quarter
 
our balance sheet consisted of 1.6 trillion
 
in total assets, with around
 
40%
in loan balances. While we continue
 
to optimize the risk profile
 
of exposures inherited with the
 
acquisition of
Credit Suisse, our lending book continues to reflect high credit quality
 
and disciplined risk management.
 
More than
 
80% of
 
our loan
 
portfolio consists
 
of mortgages,
 
with an
 
average LTV
 
of around
 
50%, and
 
fully
collateralized Lombard loans. This quarter our credit-impaired exposure as a
 
percentage of our loan book was
just 73 basis points, and our cost of risk was
 
only 8 basis points.
Assets held
 
at fair
 
value were
 
494 billion, or
 
around 30%
 
of the
 
total balance
 
sheet. Notably,
 
Level 3
 
assets
were 16 billion and accounted for less than 1% of
 
our total assets.
 
Turning
 
to the
 
liability side. Our
 
operations this quarter
 
were funded
 
with 776 billion of
 
deposits and almost
370 billion of well-diversified
 
wholesale funding, spread
 
across currencies and tenors.
 
Our loan-to-deposit ratio
at quarter
 
end was
 
79%. Throughout
 
the year, we have
 
diligently executed
 
on our
 
funding plan,
 
already having
completed our issuances for 2024 and prefunded
 
some of our 2025 AT1 build.
Finally, tangible equity in the quarter
 
increased by 3.6 billion to
 
80 billion, mainly driven
 
by quarterly net
 
profits
and
 
other
 
comprehensive
 
income
 
of
 
2.5 billion.
 
This
 
was
 
partly
 
offset
 
by
 
a
 
net
 
reduction
 
of
 
0.5 billion
 
for
Treasury shares repurchased as part of
 
our share buyback
 
program. Our tangible
 
book value was
 
25 dollars and
10 cents per share, reflecting a sequential increase of 5%.
Overall,
 
we continue
 
to operate
 
with a
 
highly
 
fortified and
 
resilient
 
balance
 
sheet with
 
total
 
loss
 
absorbing
capacity of 195 billion, a net stable funding
 
ratio of 127% and an LCR of 199%.
 
 
7
Slide 11 – Global Wealth Management
Moving to our business divisions, starting with
 
Global Wealth Management on slide 11.
GWM’s pre-tax
 
profit was
 
1.3 billion, an
 
increase of
 
30% with
 
strong positive
 
jaws as
 
revenue growth
 
outpaced
expenses by 4 percentage points.
Our performance is showcasing the enduring
 
competitive strengths of our wealth franchise. Enhanced
 
by the
Credit Suisse acquisition, our global
 
scale, diversified model, and cross-divisional capabilities uniquely
 
position
us to capture
 
wallet and seize
 
growth opportunities. The
 
industry trends we
 
see accelerating
 
include legacy
 
and
longevity-based
 
planning
 
needs,
 
geographic
 
wealth
 
migration,
 
and
 
active
 
management among
 
the
 
world’s
wealthiest investors to diversify
 
portfolios and manage risks.
 
These secular growth
 
dynamics play right
 
to our
strengths.
 
This quarter,
 
within an
 
active market environment
 
characterized by
 
higher volatility
 
and continuing
 
concerns
around geopolitical developments,
 
our clients benefitted
 
from our CIO’s call to
 
remain invested and to
 
position
their portfolios to take advantage of the current
 
market backdrop. This further strengthened our clients’
 
trust
in our advice and capabilities, and contributed
 
to strong revenue growth in every region.
All regions delivered double-digit PBT growth. Notably, APAC delivered impressive results, more than doubling
last
 
year’s
 
pre-tax
 
profits
 
on
 
a
 
revenue
 
improvement
 
of
 
13%.
 
Also
 
in
 
the
 
Americas,
 
where
 
invested
 
assets
surpassed the 2 trillion mark, our
 
performance showed notable progress. PBT
 
grew by 11% year-on-year and
by over 30% sequentially, translating into a pre-tax margin of 12%.
 
In the
 
quarter we
 
delivered 25 billion
 
in net
 
new assets
 
with positive
 
flows across
 
all regions.
 
With net
 
new
assets of
 
nearly 80
 
billion year-to-date, we
 
remain on track
 
to deliver
 
on our
 
100 billion
 
NNA ambition
 
for 2024.
 
Once
 
again,
 
we
 
attracted strong
 
net
 
new
 
assets
 
while
 
continuing
 
to
 
absorb integration-related
 
headwinds,
including the
 
anticipated roll-off
 
of a
 
portion of
 
the fixed
 
term deposits
 
associated with
 
last year’s
 
win-back
campaign, our ongoing work to optimize balance
 
sheet usage and enhance revenue margins,
 
and the residual
tail of client advisors leaving the Credit Suisse platform.
 
Of
 
the
 
60
 
billion
 
in
 
deposit volumes
 
maturing in
 
the quarter,
 
we
 
retained
 
85%
 
on
 
our
 
platform,
 
including
converting 20%
 
into more
 
profitable mandates,
 
structured products
 
and other
 
liquidity solutions.
 
Managing
this roll-off
 
will remain
 
a short-term
 
priority for
 
us as
 
we expect
 
elevated maturing deposit
 
volumes over the
next two quarters.
Additionally,
 
by
 
remaining
 
focused
 
on
 
improving
 
the
 
efficiency
 
of
 
our
 
financial
 
resources
 
and
 
increasing
profitability
 
on
 
sub-hurdle
 
relationships,
 
our
 
balance
 
sheet
 
optimization efforts
 
have
 
supported incremental
progress in our revenue over RWA margin, bringing it to over 23%, a 3 percentage point increase from a year
ago when we started this work.
Net new fee-generating assets were 15 billion, reflecting strong discretionary
 
mandate sales in all regions with
disciplined pricing supporting stable margins
 
sequentially.
 
Now, onto GWM’s financials.
 
Total
 
revenues increased by 7% with higher recurring
 
net fee income and double-digit growth in transactional
revenues, more than
 
offsetting NII headwinds.
 
As I’ve highlighted
 
in the past,
 
a lower interest
 
rate environment
is expected
 
to spur
 
client demand
 
for more
 
advisory solutions,
 
including structured
 
products and
 
alternative
investments, as clients seek to rebalance
 
their cash exposures in search
 
for yield. We also
 
expect clients to re-
engage in lending activities helping to offset some
 
of the NII headwinds.
 
8
Recurring net
 
fee income
 
increased by
 
9% to
 
3.2 billion as
 
our invested
 
assets grew
 
to 4.3 trillion,
 
up 16%
year-on-year
 
and
 
5%
 
sequentially,
 
driven
 
by
 
market
 
growth,
 
FX
 
and
 
net
 
new
 
asset
 
inflows.
 
Mandate
penetration increased to
 
38%, up 2
 
points from the
 
same quarter a
 
year ago, reflecting
 
the value our
 
clients
see in our advice and solutions supporting
 
their investment objectives.
Transaction-based revenues were 1.1 billion, up 19%, with strong momentum across all regions supported by
the initial reduction in US policy rates. Combined with the announcement of
 
economic stimulus in China, this
made for a constructive trading environment for
 
our clients.
 
In addition, the successful
 
collaboration between GWM
 
and the IB, and our
 
investments in AI-led sales
 
support
capabilities, allowed
 
us to
 
capture transactional
 
volumes across
 
our expanding
 
product shelf.
 
We saw
 
impressive
growth in
 
structured and
 
cash products,
 
and in
 
alternatives. This continues
 
to be
 
especially notable
 
in APAC
and the Americas, where
 
transactional revenues were up
 
25% and 23% year-on-year,
 
respectively,
 
and both
up
 
sequentially
 
vs
 
a
 
strong
 
2Q.
 
We
 
see
 
this
 
momentum
 
continuing
 
into
 
the
 
fourth
 
quarter,
 
while
 
noting
transactional activity typically decreases as we approach
 
year-end.
Net interest income at 1.6 billion was broadly flat sequentially as reinvestment income from longer duration
 
in
our replication portfolios offset expected headwinds from mix
 
shifts.
 
In the fourth quarter, with 50 basis points of further US dollar rate cuts priced-in, we expect a sequential mid-
single digit percentage drop in NII.
 
This is expected to
 
be driven mainly by headwinds
 
to deposit revenues from
lower rates, while
 
our deposit balances,
 
as mentioned, reflect
 
conversion of fixed-term deposits,
 
in part, into
non-deposit solutions.
 
Also, as mentioned last quarter, towards the end of the year,
 
we plan to adjust the sweep deposit rates in our
US
 
advisory accounts.
 
The effect
 
of this
 
change on
 
our
 
NII is
 
expected to
 
be minimal
 
in the
 
fourth quarter.
Moreover, lower US dollar rate assumptions
 
also reduce the modeled
 
impact of sweep
 
deposit rate changes
 
on
net interest
 
income in
 
2025, and
 
likewise would
 
be expected
 
to improve
 
last quarter’s
 
guidance of
 
negative
50 million of PBT annually.
Across GWM, as mentioned last quarter,
 
we continue to initially expect net interest
 
income to trough around
the
 
middle
 
of
 
next
 
year
 
based
 
on
 
current
 
implied
 
forwards.
 
With our
 
4Q
 
results,
 
and
 
after
 
completing our
planning process, we intend to offer more developed insight into our 2025
 
expectations for GWM NII.
 
Operating expenses
 
increased
 
by
 
3%
 
compared
 
to
 
last
 
year
 
and
 
1%
 
sequentially.
 
Excluding
 
compensation-
related and
 
currency translation
 
effects, underlying
 
operating expenses
 
dropped by
 
4% compared
 
to the
 
second
quarter.
 
As highlighted previously,
 
the ongoing client account and platform migration
 
work is expected to be
a significant driver of cost reductions in GWM by
 
the middle of 2025 and into 2026.
Slide 12 – Personal & Corporate Banking (CHF)
Turning to Personal and Corporate Banking on slide 12.
P&C
 
delivered
 
third
 
quarter pre
 
-tax
 
profit
 
of
 
659 million
 
Swiss
 
francs,
 
down
 
7%.
 
Revenues
 
decreased
 
by
 
a
similar level, mainly as
 
NII dropped by
 
11% as the prior
 
-year quarter featured substantially higher
 
Swiss franc
interest
 
rates. Recurring
 
net fee
 
income increased
 
by 5%
 
on higher
 
custody assets,
 
while transaction-based
revenues were down
 
5% mainly
 
from lower
 
corporate activity, including
 
in trade
 
finance, partly
 
offset by
 
higher
card fees.
 
NII decreased by 2%
 
sequentially,
 
mainly driven by the effect
 
of the SNB’s second 25
 
basis point interest rate
cut in
 
June and
 
partly offset
 
by the
 
benefits of
 
our balance
 
sheet optimization
 
efforts, which
 
remain key
 
to
building back returns to pre-acquisition levels.
 
 
 
9
This work, which continues
 
to contribute to improved
 
revenues on capital deployed
 
and fixing the funding
 
gap
inherited from Credit Suisse,
 
came at the expense of
 
net new lending outflows of 5.6 billion
 
Swiss francs this
quarter.
 
I would highlight that P&C’s contribution to our commitment in
 
Switzerland to maintain a loan book
of 350 billion Swiss francs
 
was evidenced by around 25 billion
 
in loans granted or
 
renewed during the quarter.
In the
 
fourth quarter,
 
we expect NII
 
to tick
 
down sequentially by
 
a low
 
single-digit percentage
 
both in
 
Swiss
francs and
 
US dollars
 
as the
 
effects of
 
the SNB’s
 
third 25
 
basis-point rate
 
cut in
 
September are
 
expected to
more than offset improved lending
 
revenues from our re-pricing efforts
 
and lower funding costs. Considering
competitive dynamics
 
in Switzerland
 
as well
 
as the
 
measured pace
 
of accommodation
 
in the
 
Swiss central
 
bank’s
monetary policy, our objective is to protect client deposit balances. Hence, our
 
guidance for the fourth quarter
reflects only a slight increase in deposit beta.
 
As mentioned last quarter, with Swiss franc interest rates stabilizing by mid next
 
year based on current implied
forwards, we
 
continue to
 
expect net
 
interest income
 
in P&C
 
to trough
 
shortly thereafter. We
 
will offer
 
additional
insights into our 2025 expectations for P&C
 
NII next quarter.
 
Credit loss expense was
 
71 million, driven by
 
several positions in
 
our corporate loan
 
book, mainly on the
 
Credit
Suisse platform.
 
For the
 
foreseeable future,
 
we expect
 
CLE to
 
remain at
 
broadly similar
 
levels given
 
the persistent
relative strength of the
 
Swiss franc and
 
some economic
 
softness in the
 
main Swiss export
 
markets, contributing
to an already muted domestic economic outlook.
Operating expenses in P&C were broadly flat year-on-year and down 1% quarter-on-quarter.
Slide 13 – Asset Management
On slide 13, pre-tax profit in Asset Management increased by 46% to
 
237 million with revenues up 13%. Our
asset management franchise is making visible progress
 
in advancing its strategy of offering
 
differentiated and
tailored client
 
solutions at
 
scale. Complementing this
 
is a
 
high level
 
of focus
 
on streamlining
 
the operational
backbone of the division as well as exiting
 
non-strategic businesses.
 
Results in the
 
quarter include gains of
 
72 million from disposals,
 
largely related to
 
the residual
 
portion of the
sale
 
of
 
our
 
Brazilian
 
real
 
estate
 
fund
 
management
 
business.
 
Excluding
 
these
 
gains,
 
Asset
 
Management’s
revenues were up by 3% year-on-year.
Net management fees were broadly
 
flat as higher average invested assets and
 
the effect of a revaluation
 
of a
real estate fund offset ongoing margin compression from clients rotating into lower-margin
 
products.
Performance fees were 46
 
million compared to 18 million
 
in the prior year
 
quarter driven by higher
 
revenues in
our hedge fund businesses and Fixed Income.
Net
 
new
 
money
 
in
 
the
 
quarter
 
was
 
positive
 
2 billion,
 
with
 
strong
 
inflows
 
in
 
Money
 
Markets
 
and
 
positive
contribution from our China JVs, more than offsetting outflows in Equities.
 
Operating expenses
 
were 4% higher
 
as cost reductions
 
from lower headcount
 
were more than
 
offset by higher
personnel and litigation expenses.
 
Slide 14 – Investment Bank
On to our Investment Bank’s performance on slide
 
14.
 
The IB
 
continued to build
 
revenue momentum
 
leveraging the
 
investments in
 
teams and
 
capabilities acquired
with Credit Suisse and delivered another strong set of results with pre-tax profit of 377
 
million in the quarter.
 
 
10
Revenues increased
 
by
 
29% to
 
2.5 billion
 
with Global
 
Markets posting
 
its
 
best third
 
quarter on
 
record
 
and
supported by solid performance in Global Banking.
 
Banking revenues increased by
 
21% to 555 million
 
as we leveraged the
 
increased breadth of our franchise
 
and
solidified growth
 
achieved over
 
the last
 
several quarters.
 
Our
 
investments in
 
talent and
 
integrated coverage
teams are paying off as we have gained meaningful market
 
share in a number of key sectors.
Regionally,
 
APAC
 
delivered its best
 
third quarter
 
on record
 
in M&A,
 
more than doubling
 
total revenues from
the prior year quarter, while Banking revenues in the US were up by around 20%.
 
In
 
Advisory we
 
delivered
 
top
 
line
 
growth
 
of
 
13%
 
and
 
further
 
market
 
share
 
gains in
 
M&A.
 
Capital
 
Markets
revenues rose by 28% with increases across all product groups.
 
Looking ahead, we remain
 
encouraged by the strength
 
of our pipeline, which
 
should support our performance
into 2025. We also maintain a top-ten ranking across the
 
street in announced M&A volume.
 
Revenues in Markets
 
increased by 31% to
 
1.9 billion, driven by
 
client activity and
 
the strength of our
 
expanded
franchise. We saw
 
increases across all
 
regions, and notably
 
in the Americas,
 
where revenues were
 
up by around
60%.
 
Equities revenues were up
 
by 33%, supported
 
by higher constructive
 
volatility. Our Equity Derivatives and
 
Cash
Equities businesses each delivered their best third quarter
 
on record.
FRC was up by 26% with double-digit growth in FX and
 
rates, as we benefitted from increased client activity,
albeit against a softer comparative quarter
 
a year ago.
 
Operating expenses rose by 2%, and were broadly flat excluding
 
currency effects.
 
Slide 15 – Non-core and Legacy
Moving to Slide 15.
Non-core and Legacy’s pre-tax loss in
 
the quarter was 333 million, with
 
262 million in revenues, primarily
 
from
position exit gains in securitized products partly offset by net
 
losses in macro.
 
Excluding litigation, operating expenses were down
 
by over 40% year-on-year, and up 1% sequentially.
 
In the fourth quarter,
 
we expect NCL to generate a pre-tax loss broadly in line with the guidance we provided
with our 2Q24 earnings.
Slide 16 – Non-core and Legacy run-down ahead of schedule
Now onto
 
Slide 16.
 
In the
 
quarter NCL
 
reduced RWA and
 
LRD by
 
5 and
 
11 billion, respectively. Since the
 
second
quarter last year,
 
NCL has freed up
 
almost 6 billion of capital by
 
reducing its RWA
 
by around half and its
 
LRD
by two thirds. It also halved its cost base in that
 
time.
This progress to-date puts us nearly
 
a year ahead of our
 
de-risking schedule, including
 
closing over 50% of
 
the
14 thousand books we started with. By the end
 
of 2026 we aim to have less than
 
5% remaining.
 
As
 
the
 
chart illustrates,
 
solely
 
by
 
letting
 
the
 
portfolio naturally
 
run-off,
 
we
 
would
 
already
 
broadly
 
meet our
current ambition to reduce NCL to 5% of Group RWA by 2026.
 
11
This impressive result is
 
testament to the
 
skillful work delivered by
 
the NCL team
 
over the past
 
5 quarters. After
completing our planning process, we’ll provide an
 
update to our NCL ambitions through 2026
 
with our fourth
quarter results in February.
 
Recapping the
 
quarter,
 
we showcased
 
the strengths
 
and long-term
 
strategic advantages
 
of our
 
franchise by
building on positive client momentum and delivering
 
strong underlying profitability.
 
We continued to make impressive progress in integrating Credit Suisse as we’ve successfully embarked on the
next critical phase of our integration journey.
With a strong capital and
 
liquidity position, and a balance
 
sheet for all seasons, we
 
remain well positioned to
continue delivering for our clients and generating
 
attractive shareholder returns while investing
 
for our future.
 
With that, let’s open for questions.
12
Analyst Q&A (CEO
 
and CFO)
Kian Abouhossein, JP Morgan
Yes, thanks for taking my questions. The
 
first question is on buyback
 
in 2025. The second quarter stage,
 
you
were not commenting yet on buyback. Clearly, that changed at a recent conference and reconfirming this,
Sergio, today as well. I just wanted to
 
understand what the thinking is in terms
 
of changing the buyback
view in 2025 and how that fits into
 
the regulatory regime changes that might
 
come in the future. And
 
in
that context, if you could
 
just also indicate if you will make any
 
comments with the full-year results, as you
will give us a buyback for 2025, how that
 
fits with regulatory changes, especially I’m referring to the
 
parent
bank capital issue?
And then the second question is on US wealth
 
management. Are you seeing a peak in yield-seeking
 
from
depositors at this
 
point? And we're hearing
 
from US peers that there are some
 
stabilization in sweep
accounts. So I'm just trying to understand
 
how lower rates will impact sweep, but
 
also potentially impact
loan growth, as I can see it's flattish in the quarter.
Sergio P.
 
Ermotti
Okay. Thanks, Kian. Well, look, if I – if you
 
go back into our remarks, my remarks,
 
in the past, I always
clearly stated that starting a buyback
 
program in 2024 would be at the start
 
of a journey that would
 
not be
a stop-and-go kind of strategy. So I always, and we always, flagged the fact
 
that in 2025 we would have a
share buyback. Now we are reiterating that guidance by saying that
 
we do expect in the early part of 2025,
as we present Q4 results, to tell, like we did this year, the amount of ambitions or the size of the ambitions
we have for 2025. So in that sense, I think that's
 
– I just – we are just reiterating our commitments, also in
respect of our ambitions for 2026 is that, of course,
 
they are subject to requirements
 
– potential new
requirements in Switzerland, and then we will assess.
 
But our ambition is to have similar returns
 
we had
before the acquisition by 2026.
Now for 2025, early 2025, your question,
 
are we going to have more clarity? I don't know. We are not
really in control of the timing. I
 
think, I suspect, that we won't
 
be able give a
 
lot of guidance on that –
 
in
that sense, because, as you know, we are still going through technical discussions.
 
The consultation process
probably is gonna start late this year or even in the
 
early part of next year and is gonna to take a few– few
months, so it's very unlikely that in February
 
we will be able to give much more clarity
 
on this topic. And so
this is very unlikely then to affect 2025 capital
 
returns ambitions.
And, you know, that also implies that there is no change in terms of the parent
 
bank. As you saw, our
parent bank, our overall capital position
 
it's very strong.
 
And also, when you look at
 
our parent bank capital
at 13.3% is very solid,
 
is already on a fully applied basis and with a methodology
 
on how we look at
valuation of assets and subsidiaries, that is quite
 
conservative definitely compared to what we
 
saw in the
past.
13
Todd
 
Tuckner
Hi, Kian. Regarding your second
 
question, in terms of
 
lower rates and impact on
 
our US wealth business. So
first on the loan side, absolutely I would expect
 
across the division that lower rates will – and I made
 
this
comment earlier in my remarks – you know, should spur additional
 
lending opportunities across the
division, including in the US. On the deposit
 
side, in particular on sweeps, so first
 
I'd say a couple of things,
that we are seeing sweep deposits
 
continue to taper. But in the
 
quarter, we did have smaller outflows, so
still about a billion of outflows.
 
You know,
 
I'd say that some of the market
 
dynamics that I see in this
regard, you know, one is that we're not yet pricing sweeps higher versus
 
maybe some of the peer set are
doing.
Secondly, you know,
 
we have a higher percentage of assets with ultra-high
 
net worth. And for sure, that
asset band tends to have a much lower percentage
 
of AuM in sweeps. So that's going to be a
 
market
dynamic for us that will always weigh on, you
 
know, that, that sensitivity, just given that with a more high
net worth client base where there's more sensitivity
 
in terms of deposit pricing,
 
you know, naturally then
there'll be lower balances
 
and sweeps. That said, you know, I expect as rates come down that
 
we will see –
we will continue to see sweeps balance taper, if not starting to grow.
Kian Abouhossein, JP Morgan
Thank you.
Chris Hallam, Goldman Sachs
Yes, so good morning, everybody. Just two questions from me.
 
So 2025 profitability, you've guided for high
single-digit return on core tier 1. Consensus is at 9%.
 
You're
 
already at 9.2% in the nine-month stage this
year. So how should we be thinking about the outlook for returns and earnings
 
growth in ‘25 versus ‘24?
And also, any specific items to be aware of in the fourth
 
quarter that could bring the ‘24 return on core tier
1 down meaningfully from what we've seen so far
 
this year?
And then second, and again, it's
 
a bit of a follow
 
up on US wealth. So 12%
 
pre-tax margin in the
 
quarter,
are there any one-offs in that number? And you've highlighted
 
before your desire to bring, you know, a
broader suite of products and capabilities to clients to
 
drive that margin up towards the mid-teens target.
What are the key signposts we should look out
 
for you to sort of be delivering
 
on that strategy? And given
the comments yesterday from Colm on M&A,
 
how does M&A fit into that strategy
 
as well? Thank you.
Todd
 
Tuckner
Yeah. Hi, Chris. So maybe just address your second question initially. Just in terms of the pre-tax profit in the
Americas region. No, no one-offs. Just, you know, I would comment that, first
 
of all, strongest revenue
quarter ever. So there, you know, certainly seeing that as a strength. You
 
know, we continue to see revenues
growing nicely, up 3% sequentially in the region and 9% year-on-year and so, no one-offs. You see as well, I
highlighted in my
 
comments the transaction
 
revenues continue to be a real plus
 
for us, you know, as we
borrowed a page from our strategy outside the US in terms
 
of working hand in hand with the IB and
 
working
with clients and bringing them our product shelf
 
in transactions. So really generating good transactional
growth in that respect.
 
14
Look, we're going to – we know what we need to do and we're going to stay focused on continuing
 
to,
you know, chip away at our goals.
 
It's not going to happen overnight
 
and we'll continue to come back and
talk about, you know – in fact in the fourth
 
quarter, we'll
 
give more of a perspective on how we see things
and the signposts you can look to.
 
In terms of 2025 and, you
 
know, I'd say, you know, first off, you know, if
you look out into
 
4Q, you asked, I mean, other than
 
the, you know, the seasonality that we highlighted in
the fourth quarter, a bit on the top line that you would normally see, despite the
 
momentum we saw
coming into 4Q. Also, a
 
little bit on the expense side, as
 
I highlighted in my comments, a bit of the,
 
you
know, somewhat seasonal uptick and some one-offs like the UK bank levy. But away from that, no, I mean,
nothing that we're seeing, and nothing
 
on the CET1 capital ratio
 
that I would – that I would highlight.
 
You
know, as we look out, you know, I don't think we want – we don't think it's appropriate to draw
 
a straight
line or extrapolate from the strong return on CET1 we've
 
generated this year. I think we just have to keep
doing the things that we said we're going to do. We know we have costs that have to continue to come
out at this point. That's
 
going to be the biggest driver
 
of getting us to a cost-income
 
ratio below 70%
 
and
returns to around 15% by the end of 2026.
 
We know that's the ambition for us and we're going to work
over the next two years to get there. But, you know, at this point, I wouldn't
 
extrapolate necessarily from
our ’24 performance to draw a line into ‘25.
Chris Hallam, Goldman Sachs
Okay. Thanks very much.
 
Giulia Miotto, Morgan Stanley
Yes, hi. Good morning. So two questions from me. Todd, you mentioned some balance sheet optimization
efforts that have lifted
 
revenues over RWAs
 
by 3 percentage
 
points. I was wondering if you
 
could shed some
light on, you know, these measures and how much
 
is left to come? I think in Q4, you highlighted
 
some NII
[
Edit: NNA
]
 
impact, and I was wondering how much
 
of that has already come through?
And then aside from the quarter, and going back to the US wealth business, in
 
my understanding, once you
get to 15% PBT and once you have done with
 
the CS integration, you could consider some
 
inorganic growth
opportunity to further improve margins. But
 
isn't this at odds with
 
the Too Big to Fail proposal the way
 
it is
written at the
 
moment, which sort of penalizes growth in foreign subsidiaries?
 
And how do you square the
two? Thank you.
15
Todd
 
Tuckner
Hi, Giulia. Yeah, so on the balance sheet optimization,
 
yeah, thanks. Thanks for
 
recalling that point in
 
my
remarks, was, that is something
 
we're, you know, quite proud of, that work which
 
is driving up the, you
know, the efficiency on the capital deployed in the businesses
 
that we inherited. And so this has been
 
a big
piece of work that's been driven by the business
 
– really across the entire business. And so the impact is
appreciable as you saw. So just some insight into it, so – and I've talked about
 
this a bit before, but
effectively, you know,
 
when we look at the capital deployed
 
typically around lending relationships that had
been largely inherited – albeit we can look at
 
still, you know, the ones that are more heritage UBS as well,
you know, to the extent that they're sub-hurdle – we've been taking the
 
steps to drive additional
 
revenues,
you know, through repricing efforts, but importantly, to expand the product shelf
 
and offering available to
those clients who might be monoline clients.
 
And so that's been a big effort and you could see
 
that in the
uptick in the revenue over RWA as we expand effectively the offering to those clients
 
who may have just
been clients who were, you know, had a loan with us, with Credit Suisse, and
 
now have a much broader
array. And so, you know, it's a win-win as we bring a lot of value. I mentioned the
 
impact on net new assets
because naturally, as you attempt to optimize the balance
 
sheet, while we've been
 
successful, there will be
times when you try to
 
reprice that, you know, there will be clients, and in
 
particular securities, leaving the
platform. And so that's where the NNA headwind
 
is that I talked about that we're capturing in our
otherwise impressive net new asset performance
 
in the quarter.
Sergio P.
 
Ermotti
Yeah. Giulia, on the second question, I think that first of all, I think it would be
 
premature to draw a
conclusion around what the new
 
regulation will be. Having said
 
that, you have
 
to balance that, you know,
one aspect that has been clearly
 
outlined by the Swiss Federal Council proposal
 
is that their intention, or
their desire, to keep Switzerland, and broadly speaking,
 
also UBS, as a competitive global player. So I can't
really see how this is possible with the, you know, with a regime that would
 
penalize expansion globally. So
in that sense, I think it's,
 
we – as we mentioned before, we do believe that
 
whatever the new regime will
be, it will be something that fits into this strategic
 
direction outlined by the Federal Council, and a desire to
correct some aspect of the current regulation, which broadly
 
speaking, is a very
 
strong regulation, one of
the most demanding ones
 
when fully applied and consistently
 
applied. That was not the case in
 
the Credit
Suisse situation. UBS is a completely different situation.
 
We believe we have a very strong capital position, a
balance sheet for all seasons, and we are able to
 
sustain both a global business model, but
 
also staying very
close to our own markets
 
and sustain the economy. So, you know, when we have all the
 
facts, we will draw
strategic conclusions on what to do. It's
 
now premature to do that.
Giulia Miotto, Morgan Stanley
Thank you.
Stefan Stalmann, Autonomous
Hi, good morning and thank
 
you very much for taking
 
my questions. The first one I wanted
 
to ask is, I
noticed that your sensitivity to a downward shift
 
of the yield curve has actually come down
 
a lot. In the
second quarter, you guided for minus 1.5 billion. Now it's only 300 million, and that
 
is despite the fact that
the rate environment hasn't changed dramatically during
 
the third quarter. Could you maybe explain what
has changed then?
16
And another question not directly related to the results, but there were stories that
 
you might be interested
in some kind of joint venture in India, potentially with
 
a player called 360 ONE. You may not be able to
comment on this specifically, but hypothetically, would this be indicative of any strategic
 
desire to shift more
onshore and more into potentially
 
lower wealth brackets if you contemplate
 
such a move? Thank you very
much.
Todd
 
Tuckner
Hey, Stefan. How are you? On the first
 
– yeah, good spot. So the – that asymmetry
 
is a function of now, in
the lower interest rate environment in Swiss franc terms,
 
it's just the loan flooring dynamics that
 
come into
play from negative interest rates.
 
So you see that the down
 
100 basis points scenario
 
will have a much
 
more
limited impact, or an asymmetrical
 
impact to the up 100 basis point impact, in
 
particular in Swissy.
Sergio P.
 
Ermotti
Yeah. And on the second question, you're right, we are
 
not going to comment
 
on any speculations
 
or
rumors, but, you know, we do believe that
 
Asia-PAC is a growth business. We have now a
 
stronger presence
in India thanks to the combination
 
of the UBS and Credit Suisse capabilities. We always look at
 
ways to
enhance our businesses in each key locations where
 
we operate, but I wouldn't draw a conclusion
 
that we
are thinking about major strategic moves in terms
 
of segment focus at this stage.
Stefan Stalmann, Autonomous
Okay. Thank you very much.
 
Thank you.
Jeremy Sigee, BNP Paribas
Morning. Thank you. Just a couple
 
of follow ups on wealth management actually
 
and they’re both things
that you've touched on, but I
 
just want to get into a bit
 
more detail. The first one was
 
on advisor numbers,
which are coming down a little bit
 
more, sort of as expected in
 
this quarter. But I just wondered where you
are in that process and what the
 
outlook is for, you know,
 
how much more reduction in advisor numbers do
you expect? And is there a point at which that returns to growth mode, or does it
 
stay in optimization mode
for a continued period of time? So, advisor
 
numbers.
And then the second question was
 
just to talk a bit more about Asia
 
in wealth management.
 
You referred to
the stimulus, you referred to the pickup in transaction
 
activity, so I just wondered where you think we are in
that process? And for example,
 
whether you're seeing signs of re-leveraging
 
and just how
 
much improvement
you see ahead of us in that Asia process?
Todd
 
Tuckner
Hi, Jeremy. Yeah.
 
So first on Asia. Yeah, we're really pleased with the performance in GWM APAC and
thanks for recognizing that
 
as well. You know, you see the sequential progress, this, you know, having
transaction-based income up in 3Q versus 2Q,
 
really proud of that result. And then you see the year-on-
year quite strong. You know,
 
in terms of where we are, I think, you know, this –
 
we have, I would argue
we have a long road ahead in the sense
 
of good upside, just given that, you know, the business is first
coming together now on the same platform.
 
I mean, we shouldn't underestimate the importance
 
of that.
You know,
 
with the Hong Kong client account
 
migration just having been
 
completed this past weekend,
and we're looking forward
 
to Singapore and Japan in the fourth quarter.
17
I mean, these are things that are really going to just further bring the
 
business together. And, you know, I
think from here, lower rates, you know, let's see, but re-leveraging opportunity, as you mentioned, the
business is very focused. I
 
think the business is, you know, is positioning
 
itself to fire on
 
all cylinders in
APAC. And I'm very, very bullish about that. So in terms of where we are in the process, I think, you know,
obviously it's been a good backdrop in this last quarter, but I think there are really good things ahead.
 
In terms of the advisor numbers, I would sort
 
of, you know, look at that in two ways. First, you know, on
the non-US or what we call the Swiss and International
 
part of GWM, you know, I would say from an
advisor perspective, it is still – optimization’s
 
probably the word – to come together. I think, you know, it's –
lion's share of that's been complete.
 
You know, I've talked about the Credit Suisse client advisors
 
leaving for
some period of time, and that's been an old
 
story, and it's just really the tail of it that we talk about maybe
as a headwind a bit, on net
 
new assets. But in
 
terms of the advisor headcount, you
 
know, I just see the
teams as they come
 
together as well once all the platform
 
work is complete, you know, I think then we get
to a point and that of stability, and from there the business can make targeted
 
investments in specific
regions to grow for sure, but to already leverage at scale.
I think the US we need to,
 
a bit, take a wait-and-see,
 
and see what the leadership comes
 
back with a bit
and they – as they do their
 
strategic reviews and we'll talk
 
– Sergio and I will come out
 
and talk a bit in the
fourth quarter about that. You know, I think, you know, it has been a story of somewhat trying to get
more productive with a smaller advisor workforce over
 
a number of years. And
 
we'll have to see
 
if that's,
you know, the direction of travel that the current leadership
 
wants to go.
Jeremy Sigee, BNP Paribas
Great. Thank you.
Amit Goel, Mediobanca
Hi. Thank you. Yeah. So two questions for me, also one on the US wealth business. I found it really
interesting, the commentary about potentially looking
 
at acquisitions. I guess what I'm just wondering
 
is
then, you know, from a strategy standpoint, if part of the
 
issue in terms of operating
 
margin is the scale
 
and
the cost base relative to
 
the revenues, you know, is it now then
 
the case that it's
 
cheaper to acquire than to
simply just hire? Because, you
 
know, the US, you know, as you say, is, the focus has been on productivity,
reducing FA numbers. So I'm just trying to think, is that because, you know, these 400% recruitment deals
are now just too expensive to make it worthwhile,
 
but it's actually just cheaper to buy an organization?
And then secondly, just going back on the
 
deposits and the roll-off of the
 
fixed term deposits
 
within wealth,
I'm just curious, were those kind of written
 
12 months ago and, you
 
know, were those done at, kind of, quite
high rates? So just curious if there's also potentially
 
some of that effect into Q4 and start of next
 
year? Thank
you.
Todd
 
Tuckner
Yeah. Hi, Amit. Yeah.
 
So on the deposits question,
 
yeah, these were written, you know, basically they're –
they have a year maturity
 
so you start to
 
see, we start in 2Q already, ones that were written just in
 
the wake
of the acquisition, you know, all the way through, I would say, you know, the end of the year of 2023 into
the very beginning of this year. And they had – they were competitive in terms
 
of pricing for sure, as part
of, you know, stabilizing the franchise and engaging with clients.
 
So for sure and so now as they mature,
you know, the question, and that's what I've been highlighting
 
in the last couple of
 
quarters, the question
becomes, you know, what we call landing, we refer to them as landing those
 
deposits in the sense of
converting them into other parts of
 
the platform as we've been doing successfully.
18
Retaining is the key, you know, is the key objective and
 
retaining them in a more profitable
 
manner. We're
doing that quite successfully, but it's a headwind on NNA that we've absorbed, in
 
these NNA metrics that
I've been highlighting insofar as you know, there is still some that
 
are leaving the platform.
 
In terms of the
outlook we still see elevated, I think 3Q is the
 
peak, but we still see elevated
 
maturing FTDs in the fourth
quarter and into the front part of the first quarter
 
before, you know, we could get this issue a bit in the
rearview.
Sergio P.
 
Ermotti
Well, in respect, again, I guess
 
on this
 
potential inorganic thing, you know, I have to say
 
that Colm made it
very clear that it's not
 
a tomorrow-morning
 
kind of issue, so I think
 
it's totally premature to speculate how –
if and how – we would do any such a move.
 
Our priority right now is to improve what we
 
do in the US,
bringing the margins to, narrowing the
 
margins to our peers
 
and doing better what we have
 
today, and
then potentially by doing that, and
 
we're going to create also the
 
optionality and to
 
really choose what is –
fits best, is it
 
an organic growth or is it inorganic, and
 
what fits the best in our business model, which
 
is
asset gathering-centric.
The scale issue in the US is
 
pretty much driven by the
 
fact that we have a banking
 
platform, a G-SIB
platform de facto as – through the intermediate
 
holding company – that can accommodate
 
different
banking businesses, which we don't have.
 
So again, I think that, you
 
know, once we finish this chapter of
restoring the profitability at the levels we want to be,
 
and we fully extract the value of our investments
 
in
the Investment Bank and the collaboration
 
between the Investment
 
Bank and Wealth
 
Management and
Asset Management, we
 
will determine the next phase. Now, it's really way too early to speculate.
Anke Reingen, RBC
Hi. Yeah, thank you very much for taking my question. Just two small ones on capital,
 
please. The first one is
on the core tier 1 ratio staying, I mean ex the accelerated
 
amortization, stable quarter-on-quarter. And that's
in spite of a really strong, like, profit capital generation. I mean,
 
I realized there are a number of things
going on, including FX, but is there something else
 
we should keep in mind
 
that only means the capital ratio
is flat or you're investing more
 
capital into organic growth? Otherwise, I guess
 
given the strong earnings, the
expectation will be the capital generation
 
drives the ratio
 
higher.
And then secondly, just on the Basel IV impact,
 
just to confirm, would that be
 
at the UBS AG, would the
impact be around 30 basis points as well? Thank you.
Todd
 
Tuckner
Hi Anke. Yeah. So on the first – on your first question in terms of the capital
 
accretion, ex the acceleration of
transitional adjustment, I think there
 
are a few factors
 
to consider. You
 
know, one is the FX sensy, I mean you
mentioned that, but you know we disclosed
 
that there is an FX sensy of
 
18 basis points on our capital with
respect to a 10% depreciation in the dollar, you know, versus our major currencies. If you look at – if you
look at currencies in 3Q in particular, the Swissy dollar was down around 6% from the beginning of the
quarter until the end. And the pound versus
 
the dollar, similar dynamic. So that accounts for, you know, close
to 0.1% on the capital ratio that the currency effects this quarter
 
as you mentioned so that's one piece.
Another piece is just the
 
temporary difference
 
deferred tax assets, you know, given the reduction in the
CET1 level of capital from the acceleration,
 
we are at the 10% threshold. So we lose a bit, you know, goes
over the 10% and therefore lose the benefit
 
of the temp difference DTA, which has a
 
modest impact. And
then third, just slightly increasing
 
the accrual for future award hedging, future share award hedges. That's
 
in
our capital so that also has an impact.
 
So those all contribute to probably why you would
 
have expected
maybe on net profit, other things equal, to be potentially
 
slightly above the 15 handle.
19
Anke Reingen, RBC
Ok, thank you.
Todd
 
Tuckner
Sorry, on the Basel III final impact on the parent bank. It won't be the entire 30 basis points affecting the
parent bank but it should be most of – the most
 
of it, there might be some that falls outside. But again,
 
if
you're talking also the parent bank standalone, it won't
 
be all of it because still a fair bit of activity that's
subject to the Basel III changes, you know, are happening in subsidiaries,
 
not in the parent bank itself. So I
would expect that there'll be some but not all of the
 
30 basis point impact in the parent bank itself.
Anke Reingen, RBC
Thank you very
 
much.
Andrew Coombs, Citi
Hi, good morning. Thanks for
 
taking my questions. A couple, both related to revenues.
 
Firstly, coming back to
the US sweep deposits and repricing. Thank you firstly
 
for the additional color around the slightly less than
 
50
million PBT impact. But can I ask if you could possibly
 
break out revenue gross impact versus the cost save
offset on that? And also, do the class action suits
 
in the SEC probe have any implications on pricing
 
dynamics
in your mind for the industry as well as for
 
you going forward?
 
And then the second question actually on
 
loans, if you adjust out for FX, you've seen
 
a CHF 10 billion decline
Q-on-Q. You reiterated this point about committing to CHF 350 billion loan book across P&C
 
and GWM
Switzerland. You're now running a bit below that, I think you’re closer to CHF 340 [billion].
 
So, just to be
clear, is the CHF 350 [billion] a commitment throughout this period or is it a case of you
 
expect to trend down
and then recover back to that CHF 350 [billion]? Thank
 
you.
Todd
 
Tuckner
Hey, Andrew.
 
So on the second one, look, it's a commitment
 
you know to maintain around that level. So,
 
you
know, we've been doing the balance sheet work that I've been highlighting
 
in my remarks, both in P&C and
GWM. And, you know, in P&C, we actually saw net new loan outflows,
 
as I highlighted, of about
CHF 6 billion this quarter. This is a commitment that we've made to the market and
 
you can look at that as
an ambition that we’ll continue to focus
 
on and commit to. But, of course, we're also running
 
the business so
there might be volatility quarter-on-quarter on that.
 
In terms of – in terms of the sweep, you were looking
 
for some more information. You know, I had
mentioned in the past that, look, the gross would be
 
a low single-digit percentage of the divisional net
interest income. So with you know, that was even based on where rates were when we gave
 
the guidance
last quarter so as rates now are coming in, you know, as mentioned, that will
 
have a lower impact on the
gross as well as a lower impact on the net. That should
 
give you, though, a general sense of the impact.
20
Benjamin Goy, Deutsche Bank
Yes. Good morning. Two
 
questions, please, from my side. First on Investment
 
Bank. You outperformed across
equities and fixed income, would just be interested
 
in a bit more color, what you attribute to between the
two? Is it lower base, is Credit Suisse now fully at revenue run
 
rate or business mix? Anything else you
 
would
flag?
And then secondly, GWM and also P&C net interest income outperformed your own
 
guidance. Just
wondering why that was in your view and
 
why the Q4 guidance could be conservative
 
or not? So what could
be worse this time? Thank you.
Todd
 
Tuckner
Yeah. Hi, Benjamin. So on the second, in terms of, you know, our guidance last quarter, we extended
duration of our equity and we saw higher reinvestment
 
income as I highlighted in my comments and that
had, you know, a positive effect on GWM's NII. And therefore we came in flattish versus
 
sort of a low-to-mid
guidance. So, that would explain that. On the
 
P&C side, I think we saw some positive
 
effects of the balance
sheet optimization work that had, you know, a strong impact in the third quarter
 
as an offset to the rate
impact as I highlighted. So those were – there were some offsets that, which
 
we're always working obviously
to drive in this lower rates environment. There were some offsets that had us
 
outperform in the quarter. So I
mean, the guidance I gave for 4Q is how we
 
see it at the moment, largely driven by
 
the impact of rates. But
of course, we're going to always look to drive offsets
 
where we can.
 
In terms of the IB, you know, I'd say, you know,
 
the – on the Markets side, I mean it's
 
effectively the you
know, the Credit Suisse team has been embedded for some time. The positions
 
have been all largely
transitioned over. So it's you know, it's all steam and full steam ahead in terms of that. Credit Suisse is
supporting Markets on the research side but yeah, it's
 
the performance I would say, is not about it being a
lower base. I think in Markets it's been about
 
a team that's – a strong team that's gotten stronger and you
see in supportive markets how the team
 
is performing.
Benjamin Goy, Deutsche Bank
Thank you.
Piers Brown, HSBC
Good morning, guys. Just got two
 
questions. One is a follow-up on the previous investment
 
bank question.
But in terms of the global banking business,
 
I mean, you're still showing good year-over-year momentum, but
much weaker quarter-on-quarter I think as you guided into 3Q.
 
But could you just talk about how you're
thinking about execution of the pipeline, given
 
market conditions in the fourth quarter and
 
prospect of
further volatility?
 
And then the second question is on NCL so,
 
again, as you've guided the slowing of the
 
pace of RWA growth,
you're about just under 5 billion this quarter from 8 billion
 
last quarter and 16 billion in the third – in the first
quarter. So would it be fair to draw from that, that the opportunities to actively run off the portfolio are fairly
limited at this stage and we're really on to a natural roll off path from here? Thanks.
21
Todd
 
Tuckner
Yeah. Hi, Piers. So on the second look, you know, Sergio and I have said consistently that in NCL we're going
to prioritize cost takeout in the way we
 
think about de-risking the book. That still
 
is the team's focus. You
know, it's had a great run and continued to do so in 3Q with de-risking
 
another 5 billion of RWA, you know,
so I mean, I wouldn't necessarily draw conclusions
 
other than to say that the pace that they
 
were running at
is a pace that would be very hard to sustain, given
 
that we had, you know, we articulated ambitions for the
end of 2026 that they've been making quick
 
work at. But – and we'll come back and re-guide as
 
I mentioned
in my comments in 4Q about how we
 
see the next two years. But certainly you, you
 
can't draw a straight line
from the performance that they've had, you know, live-to-date.
 
In terms of the Banking performance in the
 
quarter. Look, I still think it was a good performance. It
outperformed the fee pool. We had a very strong first
 
half of the year. 2Q was exceptionally strong. We had a
bit of bring forward as well of some deals that we were
 
able to get done in 2Q. And probably had the inverse
dynamic happening in 3Q, where we had some deals,
 
you know, pushed into the fourth quarter and those
deals on the margin can make a difference on the performance
 
in the comparative.
But we remain very, very bullish on the pipeline. You know,
 
naturally, of course, the uncertainties that we
highlighted in our comments about 4Q, you
 
know, are clearly potential issues to navigate, i.e., the US
elections, other geopolitical concerns
 
and tensions that may impact on banking overall.
 
But I think, you know,
we're going to continue to gain market share. And, you know, we're bullish on Banking's
 
ability to execute
on its pipeline.
Sergio P.
 
Ermotti
Todd,
 
I would only maybe add to that. From a comparison
 
standpoint of view, it's worthwhile to note that
strategically we are underweight in debt capital markets.
 
So, in a sense, when you look at the performance,
you have to look at the third quarter was a pretty strong quarter for
 
debt capital markets. So I think that we
are very happy with the developments that we've seen
 
in Banking and the ability to win mandates.
 
Now, of
course, we need to see if we can execute
 
it if the market will – if the market will be
 
there, but just very, very
confident that it's a good momentum.
So that was the last question so thanks for
 
dialing in and for your questions and
 
we'll catch up in February for
the Q4 results, and we're going to give you also an update
 
on our 2025 and 2026 journey. Thank you.
 
22
Cautionary statement regarding
 
forward-looking statements |
This document
 
contains statements
 
that constitute
 
“forward-looking statements”,
including but
 
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to management’s
 
outlook for
 
UBS’s financial
 
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relating to
 
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effect
 
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and
strategic initiatives on UBS’s business and
 
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objectives concerning
 
the matters
 
described, a
 
number of
 
risks, uncertainties
and other important
 
factors could cause
 
actual developments
 
and results to
 
differ materially from UBS’s
 
expectations. In particular, the global
 
economy may
be negatively affected by shifting political circumstances, including as a
 
result of elections, increased tension between world powers, growing
 
conflicts in
the Middle East,
 
as well as
 
the continuing Russia–Ukraine
 
war. In addition, the ongoing
 
conflicts may continue
 
to cause significant
 
population displacement,
and lead
 
to shortages
 
of
 
vital commodities,
 
including energy
 
shortages and
 
food insecurity
 
outside the
 
areas
 
immediately involved
 
in armed
 
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Governmental responses to the armed conflicts, including, with respect to the Russia–Ukraine war, coordinated successive sets of sanctions on Russia and
Belarus, and Russian and Belarusian entities
 
and nationals, and the uncertainty as
 
to whether the ongoing conflicts will
 
further widen and intensify,
 
may
continue to have significant adverse effects on the market and macroeconomic conditions,
 
including in ways that cannot be anticipated. UBS’s acquisition
of the Credit
 
Suisse Group has materially
 
changed its outlook and
 
strategic direction and introduced
 
new operational challenges. The integration
 
of the
Credit Suisse entities
 
into the UBS
 
structure is expected
 
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three and
 
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presents significant risks,
 
including the risks
 
that UBS
Group AG may be unable to achieve the cost reductions and other benefits contemplated by the transaction. This creates significantly greater uncertainty
about forward-looking
 
statements. Other
 
factors that
 
may affect
 
UBS’s performance
 
and ability
 
to achieve
 
its plans,
 
outlook and
 
other objectives
 
also
include, but are
 
not limited to: (i)
 
the degree to which
 
UBS is successful in the
 
execution of its strategic plans,
 
including its cost reduction
 
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initiatives and its ability
 
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resources, including changes in RWA assets and liabilities
 
arising from higher market volatility
 
and the size of the combined Group;
 
(ii) the degree to which
UBS is successful
 
in implementing
 
changes to
 
its businesses
 
to meet
 
changing market,
 
regulatory and
 
other conditions,
 
including as
 
a result of
 
the acquisition
of the Credit Suisse Group; (iii) increased inflation and interest rate volatility in major markets; (iv) developments in the macroeconomic climate and in the
markets in
 
which UBS
 
operates or to
 
which it
 
is exposed,
 
including movements in
 
securities prices or
 
liquidity,
 
credit spreads,
 
currency exchange rates,
deterioration or
 
slow recovery in
 
residential and
 
commercial real
 
estate markets,
 
the effects
 
of economic
 
conditions, including
 
elevated inflationary
 
pressures,
market developments, increasing geopolitical tensions, and changes to national trade policies
 
on the financial position or creditworthiness of UBS’s clients
and counterparties, as well as on client
 
sentiment and levels of activity; (v) changes
 
in the availability of capital and funding,
 
including any adverse changes
in UBS’s credit
 
spreads and credit
 
ratings of UBS,
 
Credit Suisse, sovereign
 
issuers, structured
 
credit products or credit-related
 
exposures, as well
 
as availability
and cost of
 
funding to meet
 
requirements for debt
 
eligible for total
 
loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC), in
 
particular in light
 
of the acquisition
 
of the Credit
Suisse Group; (vi) changes in central bank policies or the implementation of financial legislation and regulation in
 
Switzerland, the US, the UK, the EU and
other financial centers
 
that have imposed,
 
or resulted in,
 
or may do
 
so in the future,
 
more stringent or
 
entity-specific capital,
 
TLAC, leverage ratio,
 
net stable
funding ratio,
 
liquidity and
 
funding requirements,
 
heightened operational
 
resilience requirements,
 
incremental tax
 
requirements, additional
 
levies, limitations
on permitted activities, constraints on remuneration, constraints on transfers of
 
capital and liquidity and sharing of operational costs across
 
the Group or
other measures, and the
 
effect these will
 
or would have on
 
UBS’s business activities; (vii)
 
UBS’s ability to successfully implement
 
resolvability and related
regulatory requirements and the potential
 
need to make further
 
changes to the legal
 
structure or booking model
 
of UBS in response to
 
legal and regulatory
requirements and any additional requirements due to its acquisition of the Credit Suisse Group, or other developments; (viii) UBS’s ability to maintain and
improve its
 
systems and
 
controls for
 
complying with
 
sanctions in
 
a timely
 
manner and
 
for the
 
detection and
 
prevention of
 
money laundering
 
to meet
evolving regulatory requirements and expectations, in particular in
 
current geopolitical turmoil; (ix) the uncertainty
 
arising from domestic stresses in certain
major economies; (x) changes in UBS’s competitive position, including whether differences in regulatory capital and other requirements
 
among the major
financial centers adversely affect UBS’s ability to compete in certain lines
 
of business; (xi) changes in the standards of conduct applicable to
 
its businesses
that may result from new regulations or new
 
enforcement of existing standards, including
 
measures to impose new and enhanced
 
duties when interacting
with customers
 
and in
 
the execution
 
and handling
 
of customer
 
transactions; (xii)
 
the liability
 
to which
 
UBS may
 
be exposed,
 
or possible
 
constraints or
sanctions that regulatory authorities
 
might impose on UBS,
 
due to litigation, contractual
 
claims and regulatory investigations,
 
including the potential for
disqualification from certain businesses, potentially large fines or monetary penalties, or
 
the loss of licenses or privileges
 
as a result of
 
regulatory or other
governmental sanctions, as well as the effect that litigation, regulatory and
 
similar matters have on the operational risk component of its
 
RWA, including
as a
 
result of
 
its acquisition
 
of the
 
Credit Suisse
 
Group, as
 
well as
 
the amount
 
of capital available
 
for return
 
to shareholders; (xiii)
 
the effects
 
on UBS’s
business, in particular
 
cross-border banking, of sanctions,
 
tax or regulatory developments
 
and of possible
 
changes in UBS’s
 
policies and practices;
 
(xiv) UBS’s
ability to retain and
 
attract the employees necessary to generate
 
revenues and to manage, support and
 
control its businesses, which may
 
be affected by
competitive factors; (xv) changes in accounting or tax standards or policies, and determinations
 
or interpretations affecting the recognition of gain or loss,
the valuation of
 
goodwill, the recognition
 
of deferred tax
 
assets and other
 
matters; (xvi) UBS’s
 
ability to implement
 
new technologies and
 
business methods,
including digital services and technologies, and ability to successfully compete with both existing and new
 
financial service providers, some of which may
not be regulated to the same extent; (xvii) limitations on the
 
effectiveness of UBS’s internal processes for risk management,
 
risk control, measurement and
modeling, and of financial models generally;
 
(xviii) the occurrence of operational failures, such as fraud,
 
misconduct, unauthorized trading, financial crime,
cyberattacks, data leakage and systems
 
failures, the risk of which is increased
 
with cyberattack threats from both nation states
 
and non-nation-state actors
targeting financial institutions;
 
(xix) restrictions on the
 
ability of UBS Group
 
AG and UBS AG to
 
make payments or distributions,
 
including due to restrictions
on the ability of its subsidiaries to make loans or distributions, directly or indirectly, or,
 
in the case of financial difficulties, due to the exercise by FINMA or
the regulators
 
of UBS’s
 
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other countries
 
of their
 
broad statutory
 
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relation to
 
protective measures,
 
restructuring and
 
liquidation
proceedings; (xx) the degree to which changes in regulation, capital
 
or legal structure, financial results or other factors may affect UBS’s
 
ability to maintain
its stated capital return objective;
 
(xxi) uncertainty over the
 
scope of actions that may
 
be required by UBS, governments
 
and others for UBS to
 
achieve goals
relating to climate,
 
environmental and
 
social matters,
 
as well as
 
the evolving
 
nature of underlying
 
science and industry
 
and the possibility
 
of conflict between
different governmental standards and regulatory regimes; (xxii) the ability of UBS to access capital markets; (xxiii) the ability
 
of UBS to successfully recover
from a
 
disaster or other
 
business continuity problem due
 
to a hurricane,
 
flood, earthquake, terrorist attack,
 
war,
 
conflict (e.g., the
 
Russia–Ukraine war),
pandemic, security
 
breach, cyberattack,
 
power loss,
 
telecommunications failure
 
or other
 
natural or
 
man-made event,
 
including the
 
ability to
 
function
remotely during long-term disruptions such
 
as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic;
 
(xxiv) the level of
 
success in the absorption of
 
Credit Suisse, in the
integration of the two groups and their businesses, and in the
 
execution of the planned strategy regarding cost reduction and divestment of any non-core
assets,
 
the existing
 
assets and
 
liabilities of
 
Credit Suisse,
 
the
 
level of
 
resulting impairments
 
and write-downs,
 
the effect
 
of
 
the consummation
 
of
 
the
integration on
 
the operational
 
results, share
 
price and
 
credit rating
 
of UBS
 
– delays,
 
difficulties, or
 
failure in
 
closing the
 
transaction may
 
cause market
disruption and
 
challenges for
 
UBS
 
to
 
maintain business,
 
contractual and
 
operational relationships;
 
and
 
(xxv)
 
the effect
 
that
 
these or
 
other factors
 
or
unanticipated events,
 
including media reports
 
and speculations, may
 
have on
 
its reputation
 
and the
 
additional consequences that
 
this may
 
have on
 
its
business and
 
performance. The
 
sequence in
 
which the
 
factors above
 
are presented
 
is not
 
indicative of
 
their likelihood
 
of occurrence
 
or the
 
potential
magnitude of their consequences. UBS’s business and financial performance could be affected by other factors identified in its past and future filings and
reports, including
 
those filed
 
with the
 
US Securities and
 
Exchange Commission (the
 
SEC). More
 
detailed information about
 
those factors is
 
set forth
 
in
documents furnished by UBS and filings made by UBS with the SEC, including the UBS Group AG and UBS AG Annual Reports on Form 20-
 
F for the year
ended 31 December 2023. UBS
 
is not under any
 
obligation to (and expressly disclaims any
 
obligation to) update or alter
 
its forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events,
 
or otherwise.
© UBS 2024. The key symbol and UBS are among
 
the registered and unregistered trademarks of UBS. All rights reserved
 
 
 
 
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
 
registrants have duly
caused this report to be signed on their behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
 
duly authorized.
UBS Group AG
By:
 
/s/ David Kelly
 
_
Name:
 
David Kelly
Title:
 
Managing Director
 
By:
 
/s/ Ella Campi
 
_
Name:
 
Ella Campi
Title:
 
Executive Director
UBS AG
By:
 
/s/ David Kelly
 
_
Name:
 
David Kelly
Title:
 
Managing Director
 
By:
 
/s/ Ella Campi
 
_
Name:
 
Ella Campi
Title:
 
Executive Director
Date:
 
November 1, 2024