UBS snags Merrill vet to save its wealth management business

Posted Oct 27th 2009 12:00PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Bank of America (BAC), Morgan Stanley (MS)

In wealth management circles, Robert McCann is a pro. After all, he ran Merrill Lynch's financial advisory business -- known as the "thundering herd" -- which is now part of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).

However, he left in January and wanted another opportunity. But there was a problem: he had a noncompete. So, with the help of skillful attorneys, he was able to reach some type of settlement.

As a result, McCann has now become the chief of the U.S. wealth management division of UBS (NYSE: UBS).

No doubt, the firm can certainly use the boost. As with other financial firms, UBS was pummeled by the financial implosion a year ago. There was also the extensive settlement with the U.S. regarding dubious off-shore tax shelters. The upshot has been a loss of assets and trust.

While McCann will not disclose his strategies until next year, he is still making one thing clear: UBS needs to get profitable. For example, in Q2 the brokerage division lost about $217 million. And, it looks like Q3 will have red ink.

So, will the UBS brokerage unit eventually be sold off? Well, McCann denies this. But, the fact remains that -- with 7,800 financial advisers -- the UBS brokerage is fairly small, especially when compared to rivals like Bank of America and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). However, if the UBS brokerage unit can get profitable, then the firm should get a decent premium in a sale.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook.

Tags: BAC, Bank of America, inthenews, Morgan Stanley, MS, Robert McCann, UBS, wealth management