By Andrew Welsch

A focus for UBS in 2025 was improving the profitability of its Americas unit and 2026 will bring more of the same. "We have been profitable, but not profitable enough," UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said Tuesday morning at the company's financial services conference in Key Biscayne, Fla.

The Swiss bank's Americas wealth management unit is large with more than $2 trillion in assets. But it punches below its weight in terms of banking capabilities when compared to its U.S. rivals, Ermotti said. To change that, UBS has revamped advisor pay and sought a national bank charter. It recently received conditional approval for the charter from a federal regulator, which will allow UBS to expand its capabilities, such as by offering checking and savings accounts.

"If you can do more banking with the same clients, you are making your relationships deeper," he said.

A charter can help UBS improve the unit's net interest income, which is the difference between what a bank pays customers on deposits and what it earns on interest-bearing deposits. It's a key performance metric for banks.

The chief executive also addressed advisor attrition during his talk at the conference. UBS suffered a raft of departures last year after it made changes to its 2025 compensation plan that resulted in pay cuts for some advisors. The Americas unit reported net outflows of $14.1 billion in the fourth quarter, a reflection of advisors leaving the company and taking clients and assets with them. UBS's compensation plan for 2026 raised pay for some advisors.

Ermotti said the 2025 changes were necessary to achieve better long-term efficiency in the business, adding that the company had anticipated some attrition could occur.

"We want our financial advisors to be able to serve their clients and grow their businesses," he said. "To do that, we have to ensure that there is a good balance between what advisors make and what shareholders make."

Write to Andrew Welsch at andrew.welsch@barrons.com

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February 09, 2026 15:03 ET (20:03 GMT)

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