MELBOURNE, Australia--UBS AG said it plans to withdraw from its
Australian wealth-management business, leaving senior employees to
strike out on their own following a management buyout.
The Swiss bank said Tuesday it made the decision to cease
providing wealth-management services in the country following a
review of its operation.
Mike Chisholm has stepped down as head of the Australian
business unit and, together with a group of former senior advisers
from UBS, has established independently owned Crestone Wealth
Management.
Alain Robert, global vice-chairman of wealth management at UBS,
said the decision to quite wealth-management operations in
Australia was based on a number of factors. The industry was
experiencing substantial changes due to increased regulatory and
client requirements that had made it increasingly difficult to
operate on a sustainable basis in Australia, he said in a
statement.
Still, UBS said Australia remained strategically important and
the bank would continue investing in its investment banking and
asset management businesses in the country
Separately, Mr. Chisholm said almost all of the client advisers
and the senior management of the local UBS business had indicated
they will join Crestone, which is expected to be operational in
October.
"Our objective is to create Australia's first independent global
wealth manager," he said.
The new business will offer a range of products and aims to have
a leading information-technology platform to provide clients with
real-time data and portfolio reporting, It also is in discussions
with unnamed domestic banks to add to the products it can offer,
Mr. Chisholm said.
Crestone plans to continue to access UBS's global macroeconomic
and local equities research.
Geoff Stansen, Gary MacKenzie, Andrew Lees, Leigh Birtles and
Don Chandler are among the advisers from Melbourne, Sydney and
Brisbane who with senior management have joined Mr. Chisholm in
creating the new business.
Write to Robb Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
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