Oct 28, 2026 earnings call — Integration closing and Q3 performance
Reported net profit of $2.7 billion and earnings per share of $0.85.
Revenue $13.4B (est $13.1B) · EPS $0.85 (est $0.91)
Key quotes
"Nearly all legacy applications are no longer in use, with 90% fully decommissioned, and as said, we are close to achieving our related financial ambitions."
"Of course, another defining factor for the future of UBS is the ongoing parliamentary process related to banking regulation in Switzerland."
"More broadly, the breadth and depth of our offering allowed us to attract $55 billion of inflows in Global Wealth Management."
Analyst Q&A 11
capital proposal and U.S. growth drivers
Q (Antonio Reale · BofA): He asked what a 75% capital scenario would mean for UBS and how the board weighs contingency costs versus long-term competitive effects. He also asked what is driving net new asset growth in the U.S. now that UBS has a banking license.
A: For U.S. growth, UBS said investments in advisors, platform and client experience are driving strong same-store flows, improved advisor productivity, better banking KPIs, and normalized recruiting, which helped NNA this quarter. On the capital proposal, management said they will not discuss speculative numbers now, will not act until rules are final, and will assess long-term consequences for competing from Switzerland.
"I will not comment any further on any numbers, as I mentioned." — Sergio Ermotti (CEO)
Q4 costs and client engagement
Q (Anke Reingen · RBC): She asked what to expect for Q4 costs given integration savings and seasonality, and asked about client engagement in Wealth Management aside from seasonality.
A: Management said they expect continued benefits from integration and synergies to show in Q4, but Q4 seasonality (for example the bank levy) can cause some cost uptick. For clients, the market environment is mixed and clients are more defensive, so UBS sees opportunities to help clients diversify and use fixed income yields.
"So we should still see some of those efficiencies and synergies coming through in Q4." — Todd Tuckner
U.S. bank rollout and domicile tradeoff
Q (Chris Hallam · Goldman Sachs): He asked when the U.S. national bank charter will lead to a broader product offering and deposit growth, and how UBS weighs the trade-off between capital-heavy IB and capital-light Wealth Management when choosing domicile.
A: They expect to roll out the first new capabilities from the banking license in 2027, starting with pilots early in the year and ramping through 2027 to enhance NII and margins. Management said the Investment Bank and Wealth Management are linked: the IB provides services that help gather assets (IPOs, hedging, FX), Swissness is an advantage but clients care about capabilities, and they see the proposed regulation as penalizing global reach rather than business segments.
"If you look at the current proposed regulation, what they in fact they are doing, they are not even penalizing business segments." — Sergio Ermotti (CEO)
planning for new rules and OpEx run rate
Q (Andrew Coombs · Citi): He asked how new potential capital rules are being built into 2027 planning and whether the recent P&C OpEx level is the new run rate or if further improvement is possible in Q4.
A: On OpEx, management expects more synergies to crystallize in Q4 and upside on an underlying basis that will show in the exit rate into 2027. On capital rules, they said the ordinance takes effect January 1, 2029, foreign-subsidiary rules likely in late 2027/2028, so there is no pressure to change the current business model now and they will refresh medium-term plans next year.
"That is the reason why, as we mentioned before, we are not under any pressure to change anything on our current successful business model." — Sergio Ermotti (CEO)
advisor headcount normalisation and AT1 litigation
Q (Jeremy Sigee · BNP Paribas): He asked when U.S. advisor numbers will normalize and what 'normal' looks like. He also asked about timing for the Credit Suisse AT1 litigation decision.
A: Reported headcount was down slightly under 1% quarter-on-quarter and management said this reflects a lag from decisions made months earlier; they see announced leavers and recruits returning to historic norms and expect 'normal' to be industry-level net attrition rather than net flat. On AT1 litigation, they said there is no change and the decision is not expected before Q1 of 2027.
"What does normal look like? I think it's fair to say that in the environment, there is still a move to independent advisor shops, and I think that you're seeing that across the industry." — Todd Tuckner
China tax, Hong Kong exposure, and Americas margins
Q (Giulia Miotto · Morgan Stanley): She asked if recent Chinese tax guidance affects Asia, how big Hong Kong or the trust business is, and whether Americas PBT margin could realistically reach 20% given the banking license benefits yet to flow.
A: On China, they view the offshore direct investment changes as strategically promising but too early to quantify. They said the offshore trust tax transition's effect on their book is expected to be immaterial and the Q4 impact on flows small. On Americas margins, they remain focused on current ambitions and will consider updates next quarter while staying on the described 18% ambition for 2028.
"We expect the effect in our book to be immaterial and the Q4 impact on flows to be small." — Todd Tuckner
capital ratio outlook and Asia volumes
Q (Kian Abouhossein · JPMorgan): He asked about the drivers of the expected CET1 around 14% by year-end and whether buybacks or other items explain the 70 bps decrease. He also asked how market conditions affect Asia transaction volumes.
A: They expect the Q4-reported capital ratio to be at or very close to 14%, with the fourth-quarter accrual for capital returns influencing the level but without a specific accrual guide. On Asia, they said Q3 was more selective versus last year, with less sustained momentum and patchier market performance, but they believe structural improvements will let them outperform regionally despite transactional variability.
"We expect the capital ratio delivered with our Q4 results to be at or very close to 14%." — Todd Tuckner
contingency costs and stickiness of flows
Q (Amit Goel · Mediobanca): He asked about potential exit tax and other costs if the group moved domicile, and about the size and margin of Swiss-booked assets for non-Swiss clients. He also asked how sticky the $42 billion delta between NNA and fee-generating assets is and conversion potential.
A: Management declined to comment on contingency plans or speculative costs. They said the NNA excess this quarter largely reflects IPO and liquidity events creating inflows, and noted about 10% of AUM (about $500 billion) is in other client or custodied assets that represent substantial potential to grow recurring fees over time.
"As Sergio mentioned as well, we have about 10% of our AUM, or about $500 billion is in other client assets or non-contracted or custodied assets as well." — Todd Tuckner
IB capital use and workplace channel
Q (Benjamin Goy · Deutsche Bank): He asked how UBS balances incremental IB investments given flat capital resources and whether October showed client deleveraging. He also asked about the importance and connectivity of the workplace channel in U.S. wealth.
A: They said IB growth with flat RWA reflects disciplined resource management and portfolio optimization focused on transactions and intermediation. Prime brokerage balances and revenues grew strongly year-on-year while financial resource growth stayed disciplined. Workplace wealth remains a strategic priority and a funnel they are building and will update on in future.
"That comes from disciplined resource management and portfolio optimization, focusing on transactions and intermediation." — Todd Tuckner
equities performance gap and wealth NII
Q (Nicolas Payen · Kepler Cheuvreux): He asked why UBS equities performance (+21% y/y) lagged peers (>+40%) and what explained near-flat Q3 wealth NII after guidance for modest growth, and what drives Q4 NII.
A: They said they are pleased with equities franchise performance and generated $2 billion revenues with disciplined balance-sheet use, but declined to comment on peer comparisons. On wealth NII, they expect sequential growth mainly from higher U.S. dollar rates, partially offset by mix effects, and plan to update more on 2027 outlook next quarter.
"we do expect sequential growth mainly from higher U.S. dollar rates that is partially offset by mix, which is marginal, but we're factoring at least some mix effects given the move up in dollar rates." — Todd Tuckner
freeing capital buffers and future target
Q (Stefan Stalmann · Autonomous): He asked whether freeing integration capital buffers and returning to business-as-usual means running down to 14% only, or whether UBS hints at a lower capital target in the next plan.
A: They said they expect to be at or very close to 14% at year-end and the excess buffer was held for integration timing and regulatory uncertainty; with that first reason removed there is no need to keep the extra buffer. They also said they have time to build capital if requirements change and are not hinting at future targets now; they will update medium-term plans with Q4 results in February.
"What we are clearly guiding is the fact that not only that we are going to be at or very close to the 14% at the end of the year." — Sergio Ermotti (CEO)