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Report: Layoffs imminent at UBS brokerage biz

Persistent week-long rumors of job cuts at Swiss banking giant UBS AG's U.S. brokerage business intensified today following published reports of definitive plans to lay off lower-producing financial advisers as well as support staff later this month.

Persistent rumors of job cuts at the U.S. brokerage business of Zurich, Switzerland-based banking giant UBS AG intensified today following published reports of definitive plans to lay off lower-producing financial advisers, as well as support staff, later this month.
According to Dow Jones Newswires, Marten Hoekstra, head of wealth management in the United States, disclosed the plans during a conference call with employees yesterday.
A UBS spokesman declined to comment.
Rumors have been swirling all week among brokers and headhunters that UBS would either lay off advisers or sell its wealth management business.
In the conference call, Mr. Hoekstra said that the impending job cuts don’t mean that UBS is getting out of the brokerage business, according to Dow Jones.
But UBS is widely believed to have shopped its wealth management unit earlier this year. And last month, UBS Financial Services Inc. of New York said it plans to sell 55 branch offices to Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc., the retail brokerage unit of Stifel Financial Corp. of St. Louis.
The offices, mostly in small towns in 24 states, are staffed by 320 registered representatives and advisers who control about $15 billion in assets. They generated $116 million in revenue last year.