UBS may be cutting costs, but if you're a US banker who's worked for Credit Suisse it's hiring
UBS has costs to cut. At the start of this year, it promised to extract around $1.1bn from its compensation line. At the end of June, it had actually increased group-level compensation spending from $14bn in the first half of 2025 to nearly $15bn in the first half of 2026.
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Amends must presumably be made. UBS declined to comment for this article, but senior insiders told us cuts are likely later this month or in October. They won't be the first this year. Bloomberg reported in May that 'several hundred positions', mostly in support functions, had been eliminated.
While UBS is trimming, though, it's also hiring. Bloomberg reported on Monday that it has hired five managing directors, two vice chairmen and one executive director for its US banking business. Six of them have previously spent time at Credit Suisse.
The H1B visa database says UBS pays its managing directors salaries of at least $350k. If it likes you, it will pay even more. It will also pay bonuses, often guaranteed, for new hires. The five MDs, two chairman and ED are therefore unlikely to have come cheaply.
The new hires are:
Justin Kish, a Credit Suisse banker between 2010 and 2016, latterly at Rothschild. Joining as an MD in building products and materials.
Christian Hartenberger, a Credit Suisse banker between 2001 and 2014, latterly at BNP Paribas and very briefly at Santander. Joining as an MD focused on aerospace and defence.
Pierre Bosse, a Credit Suisse banker between 2004 and 2021, latterly at JPMorgan. Joining as an MD focused on energy and power.
Adam Reeder, a Credit Suisse banker between 2010 and 2015, latterly at Rothschild. Now vice chairman of the UBS global industrials group.
Matt Parr, a Credit Suisse banker between 2004 and 2012, latterly at PJT. Now vice chair and head of Midwest banking at UBS.
Evan Bergelt, briefly at Credit Suisse from 2017-2019. Also joining from Rothschild, to be executive director in industrials.
Jeff Vergamini from Deutsche Bank, as an MD covering industrials M&A.
Brian Willer from Deutsche Bank, as an MD covering automotive and mobility.
UBS therefore seems likely to have spent at least $5m on its new US bankers when bonuses are factored in, and probably a lot more.
The array of ex-Credit Suisse hires comes as UBS's array of ex-Barclays hires have been leaving. Richard Hardegree, for example, went to BofA in May.
UBS's US M&A business has big aspirations but still needs to meet them. It ranked 22nd for US M&A deals by fees generated in the first half of the year.
Taylor Henricks now runs UBS's US M&A business, having joined from Morgan Stanley in October 2025. He also runs UBS's technology banking business, but UBS has not ranked in the top 10 globally for technology deals since 2023.
It's not clear who hired all the new ex-Credit Suisse people to the US team but Emre Gunalp, the US head of industrials banking at UBS also spent 20 years at Credit Suisse before transitioning to UBS in the dark days of 2023.
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