Bloomberg- UBS AG, buffeted by three quarters of declining earnings and losses at one of its hedge funds, replaced Peter Wuffli as chief executive officer of the world’s biggest money manager.
Marcel Rohner, the Zurich-based company’s deputy CEO, will succeed Wuffli, effective immediately, UBS said late yesterday. Marcel Ospel, 57, agreed to stay on as chairman for at least another three years after the board rejected his proposal to have Wuffli succeed him.
UBS removed Wuffli after the company shut its Dillon Read Capital Management LLC unit in May at a cost of $300 million. UBS shares trailed those of Credit Suisse Group and Deutsche Bank AG in the past year as losses at the two-year-old hedge fund hurt profit, contrasting with record earnings at its rivals.
“They were behind the game and wanted to catch up quickly,” said Edwin Merner, president of Atlantis Investment Research Corp. in Tokyo, which manages about $2 billion. “They were probably overly aggressive and did not understand the risks themselves.”
