UBS Financial News

Switzerland is set for some self-reflection on its relationship with money, if the country’s Bitcoin evangelists get their way. Amid intensified global interest in the cryptocurrency, after Donald Trump won the White House with promises of friendlier US regulation, advocates are pushing for a national vote to enshrine it in the Swiss constitution. They want the digital asset to sit alongside the dollar, the euro and gold in the central bank’s reserves.

Suni Harford (pictured) took on the role of president of asset management in 2019 after joining UBS in 2017.

Most recently, Walter developed the supervision of global systemically important banks at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

Jefferies’ investment thesis for the company lies on the exposure of the platform to the large UK advisor market and to the smaller, but higher-margin, D2C market.

Equity ETFs were the biggest gainers for both Q4 and the whole year, adding €34.6bn in the last three months of 2023 and €89.7bn over 2023, a 72% increase from 2022.

The fund will comprise a blend of discretionary and systematic strategies, and is expected to launch on LOIM’s 1798 alternatives platform in Q3 2024.

The ECB's Enria has encouraged international standard-setters within the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to bring order to this market.

The instruments were sold in two tranches that could be redeemed in either five or ten years, with an initial price talk marketed at 10% for a five-year call and 10.125% for a 10-year call.

UBS Group AG has joined rivals such as HSBC Holdings Plc, in extending an invitation to select clients in Hong Kong to trade specific crypto-linked exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

UBS said HL's premium pricing looks 'increasingly unjustified' when compared to similar product ranges, quality and customer service at lower cost competitors.

Holders of $17bn of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds had their holdings wiped out as part of the historic takeover of the bank by UBS, a move that has sparked controversy across European debt markets.

In its asset management arm, net new money declined by $1.5bn, and by $8.3bn excluding money market flows and associates, while invested assets declined 3% to $1.6trn.

By Alun John

Fortescue’s flagship iron ore division has made a slow start to the new financial year, and the company will need to raise its export rate over the next nine months if it is to achieve a fifth consecutive export record.

By David Randall

Barrenjoey’s bankers are set to timeshare the sell-side mandate for Queensland Airports Limited with their rivals at Macquarie Capital, as The Infrastructure Fund officially ramps up the collective selldown to 74 per cent.

By Chris Prentice

United Breweries, which controls half the country's beer market, said it is trying to regain market share, especially in the premium segment, and fix the company's fundamentals amid intensifying competition and state-specific regulatory issues. «We have a very strong innovation portfolio, but at the same time, there is enough work to be done on fixing our fundamentals and continuing to grow the business,» UB managing director Vivek Gupta said during his first earnings call after he joined the maker of Kingfisher and Heineken last month. «We are humble that we have a lot of ground to cover and put fundamentals in place.» Gupta said company executives are meeting key stakeholders in the government and state governments to understand «how the company can ease some of the barriers in the business...» In the July quarter, most companies in the sector, including UB and Carlsberg, blamed supply-chain issues and route to market changes for their low growth.

By Lewis Krauskopf

Investing.com — Here is your Pro Recap of the biggest analyst picks you may have missed today: a Buy assumption at Merch, and upgrades at Morgan Stanley , Cognizant Technology Solutions, and Union Pacific.

Prices for key battery metals required for the clean energy transition – such as lithium and nickel – have collapsed since the start of the year amid a supply glut and Chinese consumers reducing demand for electric vehicles.