A new COO is appointed by the world's largest wealth manager for its business in Asia.

UBS has appointed Wiwi Gutmannsbauer as operating head for its Asian wealth management business and COO for the APAC region, effective January 1, 2018. 

In this role, he reports to Dirk Klee and Kathy Shih, with an additional reporting line into Ed Koh. He succeeds Geoffroy de Ridder, operating head for wealth management in Asia-Pacific, and Andreas Neuber, COO for the Asia-Pacific region, whose new positions will be announced in due course, the bank said.

During his 20-year tenure at UBS, Gutmannsbauer has held a variety of senior roles across the bank. Gutmannsbauer will relocate to Singapore from Zurich. He also plans to spend a significant amount of time in Hong Kong. Succession in his capacity as operating head for the wealth management booking centre of Switzerland and emerging markets and head of wealth management omni-channel management will be announced in due course. Also in November, UBS has opened its second university campus in China, situated at the UBS Business Solutions Center in Wuxi.  

Among recent developments at the bank in Asia, a UBS programme designed to ensure female clients’ views and needs are better served across its business has been officially launched in Hong Kong earlier this month, following rollouts of the initiative in Singapore and Japan earlier in 2017.