UBS is mulling M&A for its asset-management business

Swiss
bank UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti addresses a news conference to
present the company’s results of the first quarter in Zurich May
6, 2014.
REUTERS/Arnd
Wiegmann

• UBS is reportedly considering acquisitions and joint-ventures
  to bolster its $800 billion asset management business.
• The Swiss lender is trying to keep pace with larger rivals
  like BlackRock, Vanguard, and Fidelity that can undercut them on
  fees.

UBS is
considering acquisitions and joint-ventures to bolster its
$800 billion asset management business and stay competitive with
larger, fee-cutting US rivals. 

Top executives at the Swiss lender, which has been gun-shy toward
growing via M&A, feel the company needs to ramp up its scale
to compete on a global level and may eye specialized or
retail-focused US and UK asset managers for buyout,
according to a report from Bloomberg. 

UBS is unlikely to go after a single large acquisition, the
executives told Bloomberg. 

Read more:
UBS cuts at least 100 jobs in asset management
arm

The firm’s $800 billion business is hefty by European standards,
but like other large players on the continent, the firm is
struggling to compete internationally with
US asset management behemoths like BlackRock, Vanguard, and
Fidelity that
are several times larger, with trillions in AUM.