UBS Group is planning to increase the bonus pool for its investment bankers by as much as 20 per cent after a surge in trading revenue helped Switzerland's largest bank post the highest profit in five years.[ZURICH] UBS Group is planning to increase the bonus pool for its investment bankers by as much as 20 per cent after a surge in trading revenue helped Switzerland's largest bank post the highest profit in five years.
Employees in the key wealth management unit will see variable compensation flat or slightly up from the prior year, with significant variations depending on the region, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking for anonymity because the figures aren't public. The bank paid out about US$2.7 billion overall in variable compensation in 2019.
A UBS spokesperson declined to comment. The bank is scheduled to publish its compensation report on March 5. UBS has navigated the pandemic better than many of its peers as its loan book proved resilient and the investment bank benefited from a surge in trading, with pretax profit at the unit more than tripling from a year earlier.
Chief executive officer Ralph Hamers signalled that variable compensation would reflect that performance when he presented fourth-quarter earnings last week.