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Former UBS boss Ralph Hamers has taken a job at an AI asset management start-up, taking over his first significant role since leaving the Swiss financial giant 18 months ago.
When he worked at UBS, Hamers was the highest-paid bank chief in Europe, but left the corporate shortly after its takeover of former rival Credit Suisse last spring. Most recently he was within the running for the position of CEO of the British asset manager Schroders, but was defeated by Chief Financial Officer Richard Oldfield.
Hamers has agreed to change into an external senior advisor to Arta Finance, a wealth management start-up founded by several former Google employees. The company, based in Silicon Valley and Singapore, goals to make use of artificial intelligence to offer world-class wealth management services for middle-market clients.
The company initially offered services to U.S. customers but recently expanded its offerings to Singapore and plans to draw business in India, where CEO Caesar Sengupta is from.
Hamers has also invested in Arta Finance, which focuses on working with clients with assets over $1 million.
While UBS's boss was trying to accumulate an identical company, he struck a deal in early 2022 to purchase robo-advisor Wealthfront for $1.4 billion. But UBS later canceled the deal.
Hamers was hired by UBS for his digital expertise and sought to enhance their technology. He explained that his goal was to remodel the standard Swiss institution right into a “Netflix for prosperity”.
But his time at UBS was marred by an investigation within the Netherlands into his involvement in a money laundering case at ING, the Dutch bank he used to run.
Prosecutors are expected to choose by the top of the 12 months whether to force him to look in court on the matter or to drop the case.
Hamers declined to comment on the case.
