What It Does: UBS provides services such as corporate banking, retail banking, investment management, wealth management, private equity, insurance, mortgage, and the issuance of credit cards.
Mission: UBS’ mission is simple; to connect people to a better world.
Size and Presence: UBS has a workforce comprising more than 10,000 employees across its locations in Canada. Its head office is in Toronto.
Best Known For: UBS is widely regarded as the largest private banking institution in the world. Firsthand named UBS as the best bank in the world for wealth management. It’s best known for its culture of secrecy and client confidentiality.
The Good Bits: The company offers great perks and incentives to its employees. There are several learning opportunities for freshers and interns. The pay is competitive.
The Not-So-Good Bits: The work-life balance can be better. Getting a job at the bank is very difficult.
The history of UBS dates back to the 19th century. The official establishment year for UBS is 1862. It was founded as Bank in Winterthur. In 1997, the Swiss Bank Corporation merged with the United Bank of Switzerland. Before the merger, both banks were two of the three largest banks in Switzerland. Their merger created the biggest private bank in Switzerland.
Initially, the new bank should have been named United Bank of Switzerland, but it was called UBS instead to prevent a name clash with one of the former principals of the merger. At the time of the merger, it was the second-largest bank in the world.
In 2000, UBS entered into a merger agreement with Paine Webber, a renowned stock brokering firm. This move shot the company to the top of the ladder in global wealth and asset management. In 2010, the bank became a global sponsor of Formula 1. In 2012, the bank announced that it would lay off 10,000 workers to trim its investment banking operations. In early 2022, UBS acquired Wealthfront.
UBS's inclusive culture is established on its pillars, principles, and behaviours. Its pillars include risk management, capital strength, and simplification and efficiency. Its principles include client-centricity, sustainable impact, and connectivity. Its behaviours include accountability, innovation, and collaboration. These three keys give a glimpse into life at UBS, how it treats its employees, makes decisions, and recruits new hires.
Diversity and inclusion are integral parts of UBS because the company doesn’t tolerate discrimination towards employees based on their gender, sexuality, religion, race, political affiliation, gender identity, socioeconomic background, etc. Employees work together and extend help to freshers and interns who are still trying to navigate their way into the organization. The company’s dress code is business professional.
UBS has so many career advancement programs. Its Graduate Talent program is a structured learning experience that offers real work experience, positive challenges, and exposure to networking opportunities. The MBA Associate program presents an avenue to graduates to advance their careers to the next level and get ready for more important job roles in the organization. Its Summer and Off-Cycle Internship program gives young talents a chance to gain insights into the different areas of operations in the organization, get mentored by brilliant financial minds and attain relevant skills and expertise that will prepare them for a rewarding career. Its Tomorrow's Talent Program is targeted at the next generation of employees and future industry leaders.
UBS receives job applications through its job portal and then reviews these submissions to prepare a shortlist of selected applicants for the interview. The next stage is virtual assessments which may be just one or more depending on the role one's applying for. The third stage is a virtual interview or face-t0-face interview. Success in all stages equates to a job offer and induction into the organization.
UBS pays its freshers an average annual salary of CA$ 45,000.
UBS’s incentives include health insurance, employee assistance programs, mental wellness programs, paid and unpaid leave, pension plans, employee stock purchase plans, and volunteer work.
The UBS Optimus Foundation donates grants to several charities and NGOs in Canada.
In 2009, the Canadian government went to court due to the refusal of UBS to reveal client names, as that would mean a breach of client confidentiality.