UBS chief Ralph Hamers’ pay jumps 11% but overall bonus pool falls

UBS chief executive Ralph Hamers enjoyed an 11 per cent pay bump last year, but the Swiss bank’s overall bonus pool was cut by a tenth.

Hamers earned a total of SFr12.2mn ($13mn) in pay and bonuses, up from SFr11mn the year before, the bank said in its annual report on Monday.

UBS enjoyed a strong finish to last year as it benefited from clients defecting from rival Credit Suisse, which has been beset by multiple crises. While the bank’s wealth management business shone, its global markets division was hit by the wider slowdown in capital markets.

The Swiss lender’s overall bonus pool dropped by 10 per cent to SFr3.3bn from the previous year. For the whole of 2022, profits at the bank edged up by just 2 per cent.

UBS returned a total of $7.3bn to shareholders in 2022 and has said it will increase its dividend by 10 per cent.