The world's largest wealth manager is halting recruitment for certain roles, but this does not affect advisors, a report says.

UBS has imposed a “partial hiring freeze” at its wealth management business to cut costs, a media report says.

The restrictions apply only to support functions, not client advisors, at the bank’s largest unit, Bloomberg quoted unnamed sources as saying. The Swiss bank’s brokerage business in the US and Canada is not affected.

The report said UBS declined to comment. This news service has contacted UBS and may update in due course.

UBS has been looking to cut costs in various business areas in recent months, the report said - a situation in which many of the bank's rivals, such as Credit Suisse, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank, also find themselves.

On 4 May, UBS reported that its wealth management business (excluding Americas) delivered an adjusted profit before tax of SFr636 million ($669 million), a rise of SFr131 million from the prior quarter, despite the lowest transaction volumes recorded for a first quarter, and reflecting lower net expenses for provisions for litigation, regulatory and similar matters. For the entire firm, net profit attributable to shareholders fell, however. UBS said at the time that this business division attracted "very strong" net new money of SFr15.5 billion, driven by net inflows from all regions, particularly Asia-Pacific, and the ultra high net worth segment.

Wealth Management Americas, meanwhile, recorded an adjusted profit before tax of $245 million compared with $63 million in the previous quarter, reflecting lower net expenses for provisions for litigation, regulatory and similar matters.

UBS is due to report second quarter earnings on 29 July.