UBS Group AG is considering a plan to promote Iqbal Khan to sole head of the bank's global wealth management business, potentially setting him up as an eventual successor to Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers.
Tom Naratil, who co-leads the private banking business with Khan, may keep his regional role as the head of UBS's business in the Americas, people with knowledge of the deliberations said. No final decisions have been made and the plans could still change, they said.
It's also unclear whether Naratil would remain on the bank's 12-member executive board as part of the changes, the people said. UBS declined to comment.
After surpassing the $3 trillion mark in assets under management, the Swiss lender under Hamers is counting on greater use of digital technology to boost cost savings and increase business with the world's wealthy.
UBS bought robo-wealth adviser Wealthfront in the US and has launched several mobile applications in Europe and Asia, seeking to encourage clients to engage with the bank for investment opportunities in the same way they browse Netflix for movies.
The bank is focusing on expansion in the US and Asia as wealth pools continue to grow. Hamers said in May that UBS was "as much of a U.S. player as we are a Swiss player" and the bank could "absolutely" compete with Wall Street titans on advising the rich.
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.
