Ralph Hamers Named UBS Group’s CEO

Ralph Hamers UBS Group AG, a Zurich headquartered multinational investment bank and financial service provider recently revealed the appointment of the new Chief Executive Officer.

As per the statement released by the firm, the Group’s board of directors revealed in an announcement earlier this week that they have appointed Mr. Ralph Hamers to serve its Chief Executive Officer set to come into effect from 1st November 2020 replacing Mr. Sergio Ermotti as the head off Switzerland’s largest bank.

Mr. Ermotti had been serving as the Chief Executive Officer for UBS Group for nearly nine years now and played a major role in turning the bank around posts its slump during the financial crisis. While Mr. Hamers will take on the role of CEO from 1st November 2020 – he will be joining the bank as a member of the Group’s executive board on 1st September 2020 in order to ensure a smooth transition into his new role as head of the Switzerland banking group.

The incoming Chief Executive Officer is currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer of ING and will part ways with the firm on 30th June 2020 ending his there decade long term with the firm. Ralph’s appointment at UBS comes in great part due to his success with ING as evident from his role in transforming ING into a leading digital bank over the course of the last six years.

Ralph has greatly transformed ING making it into a go-to financial platform for its clients and made the firm into a valuable asset for all its stakeholders. Ralph took on his current role as CEO of ING in 2013 prior to which he held multiple senior-level roles such as Head of Network Management for Retail Banking Direct and International, Global Head of Commercial Banking Network, General Manager, Deputy General Manager Global Lending Risk Management, Head of Media Finance Group, Relationship Manager Structured Finance in the Global Clients Divison and Regional CEO for the Netherlands and Belgium branches. 

Commenting on Ralph’s appointment at the firm, UBS Group AG Board Chairman Axel A Weber said, “Ralph is the right CEO to lead our business into its next chapter. A seasoned and well-respected banker with proven expertise in digital transformation, Ralph has an impressive track record leading ING Group for more than six years. As the industry undergoes fundamental change, Ralph is the person to lead UBS’s continued transformation and build upon its successful strategy as the world’s largest and only truly global wealth manager and the leading universal bank in Switzerland, enhanced by its investment bank and asset management”. 

Speaking about his new role at the firm, Mrs. Hamer said, “I’m honored by the opportunity to lead this great institution. I have long admired the firm’s transformation under the leadership of Axel and Sergio. The firm has an outstanding global client franchise across its business divisions, all of which are underpinned by the incredibly strong UBS brand. I’m looking forward to working with the senior management team, the Board of Directors and all of UBS’s employees to further strengthen the franchise and serve UBS’s clients to achieve their goals”.