With Piero Novelli stepping down as Co-President of Switzerland based UBS Investment Bank on the 31st of March 2021, it has been announced that Robert Karofsky is to take over as sole President. A recently released statement confirmed that Novelli is retiring from the banking industry to pursue new endeavours, including academic roles teaching business and finance, and non-executive chairman positions. Following the announcement, the pan-European exchange for the Eurozone, Euronext, has stated it is hiring Novelli as its new chairman.
Novelli re-joined UBS in 2013, having previously held numerous executive roles across the company before taking his Co-President position. The roles included Executive Chairman, Corporate Client Solutions, Global Head of Advisory and Chairman of Global M&A. Novelli’s departure is the first top management exit for Ralph Hamers who took over as CEO of UBS just three months ago.
In September 2018, Novelli and Karofsky became Co-Presidents of the firm, Karofsky having joined UBS leading the equities business globally back in 2014. Robert Karofsky then went on to leverage his market experience by leading the Investment Bank’s digital transformation efforts.
Karofsky and Novelli’s partnership has proven fruitful for UBS. Together they reshaped the Investment Bank by evolving alongside client needs, reinvesting in digital transformation and steering resource focus toward profitable growth opportunities. Successes under the duo’s leadership also included a deepening relationship with Asset Management and Global Wealth Management. The Investment Bank finished 2020 with an excellent return on attributed equity of nearly 20% – its best fourth-quarter and full-year results since 2012.
Group Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers said:
Ralph Hamers Source: LinkedIn
I want to personally thank Piero for his contributions to reshaping our Investment Bank and successfully co-leading the business, employees and our clients through the pandemic. Our world-class Investment Bank is critical to the success of our Group strategy and I am confident Rob is the right leader to help us achieve our strategic ambitions.
Experienced writer and journalist, working in the global online trading sector, Steffy is the Editor of LeapRate. She has previous experience as a copywriter and has been with the company since January 2020. Steffy has a British and American Studies degree from St. Kliment Ochridski University in Sofia.
