Diversifying away from America is impossible,” UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti tells Bloomberg's Jonathan ...
Questions asked in this interview
11
0:00Is there something different about the way we're set up for 2026?
0:44There was a headline earlier this morning about a very small Danish pension fund, and they've got their own issues in Denmark right now given their relationship with America. What are you seeing develop?
1:38As a bank boss right now, a CEO who's thinking about expanding around the world, why is the US still top of mind for you?
3:02Is that something you want to do organically or through an acquisition?
What a start to the trading week stateside. Equities open up, lower bond yields, higher... Dollar weaker. We've seen this movie before. Last night got over it pretty quickly. We've thrown a lot at this market in the last 12 months — it hasn't stuck. Is there something different about the way we're set up for 2026?
Well, I would say that it's probably the accumulation of issues that are now out there and not resolved that is becoming a little bit troubling, in my point of view. So I think that this is the only major change. But we have to stay tuned for more volatility going forward, and unpredictability and rapid changes. So I think staying diversified in financial markets nowadays is pretty important.
And let's get to what that word means — diversify. It feels like that's a diplomatic way of saying 'sell America' sometimes, and I'm not going to put words in your mouth. I'll tell you what others are saying. PIMCO is talking about a multi-year period of diversification away from US assets. We've seen others moving out of US treasuries. There was a headline earlier this morning about a very small Danish pension fund, and they've got their own issues in Denmark right now given their relationship with America. What are you seeing develop?
Well, diversifying away from America is impossible. I think that in any major asset allocation, one could probably think about having an overweight or underweight, but diversifying away from the US and also from the dollar is a quite dangerous bet. Things can change rapidly and the US is the strongest economy in the world, the one with the highest level of innovation. Right now it's a little bit bumpy, but I wouldn't really bet against the US.
There seems to be a difference between how the politicians and the policy makers talk about America right now, the backdrop for international relations, and how a business person thinks of America, the economy, and the opportunity. I've mentioned a number of times already today the survey that PwC put out. They surveyed four and a half thousand CEOs and the top destination for capital investment is America, and it was up on last year. As a bank boss right now, a CEO who's thinking about expanding around the world, why is the US still top of mind for you?
Well, because from our central point of view, we see two big levers. First of all, wealth creation, GDP growth, innovations. And also more idiosyncratic to UBS, we see potential for us to become more present and increase our market share. So that's one place. On the other hand, we are also very big in Asia — I mean, we manage one trillion of our assets there. We are growing very fast. The economy is growing. Half of the population in the world is living there and is creating new wealth. But in the Americas and the US, by the way, last year the US created 25 million new millionaires, so basically a thousand millionaires a day. So it's a place for a financial institution, a wealth manager like UBS — it's a place to be.
I think that we have enough to do organically by doing better what we can do, enhancing our product capabilities. We just got a national charter application being approved by the ICC. We are expanding our interaction between the investment bank and our wealth management people. So there are more things we can do to get better and stronger.
It sounds like you're on the front foot. At the same time, the foundation behind me reminds me of where we are — Switzerland — and the issues on the horizon potentially for the bank, and that's capital requirements. That feels like a cloud hanging over this bank right now. How quickly do you think we can resolve it?
Not quickly. I think it's a political process. Most likely we're going to find out the direction of travel in the middle of the second quarter. And then it's still a political process. But you're right, this is something that has been quite distracting for us, although we have been quite successful in managing the integration. Credit Suisse is almost completed — we are almost, three months to go, and then the vast majority of the job is done. So we look forward to a resolution also.
I'm sure you do. From a strategic standpoint, how is it holding you back? How is it distracting you? What are you prevented from doing that you would like to do right now at this point in time?
To be fair, nothing, because executing the integration is the top priority. We cannot be complacent — although 85 to 90 percent is done, the last 15 percent is as important. We still need to take out three billion of cost and finalize the restructuring, and then we can. We are prepared for growth, and that's the reason why we are investing in the top line but also in efficiencies and how we can become better and stronger.
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Ermotti, S. (2026, January 20). Diversifying Away From America Is Impossible, UBS CEO Says [Interview transcript]. Bloomberg Podcasts. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1009638/
MLA
Sergio Ermotti. "Diversifying Away From America Is Impossible, UBS CEO Says." Bloomberg Podcasts, 20 Jan. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1009638/.
BibTeX
@misc{ermotti2026_1009638,
author = {Sergio Ermotti},
title = {Diversifying Away From America Is Impossible, UBS CEO Says},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Bloomberg Podcasts. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {jan},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1009638/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
