UBS Weighs Elevating Khan to Sole Wealth Management Head

For Khan, 46, the elevation to solely leading the bank’s biggest unit would be a decisive internal move positioning him to potentially take over from Hamers in the future, though any change could still be far off since the Dutch executive has only been in charge about two years.

Khan jumped to UBS in 2019 from Credit Suisse Group AG, where he ran the international wealth management division.

Khan was given the regional leadership role for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at UBS in 2021, and has otherwise focused on extending the bank’s loan book with wealthy clients, hiring key managers such as Remi Mennesson from his old firm to build out areas including structured products and private investments.

UBS increased new loans to its wealthy clients to more than $25 billion per year, surpassing a target Khan set out when he first joined and turbo-charging the bank’s net interest income. The business of lending to clients in the wealth division to finance their trading and investing activities earns the Zurich-based bank significant fees.

More recently, Khan, Naratil and investment bank head Rob Karofsky restructured the unit that deals with its wealthiest clients, folding it into a newly-formed larger business within the investment bank and removing Joe Stadler, the unit’s long-time head.

Naratil, 60, started his career in 1983 at Paine Webber, which was acquired by UBS in 2000. He spent several years as the bank’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer in Zurich before returning to New York to run the US wealth business in 2016.