UBS AG plans to lay off more than 500 lower-producing financial advisers in its U.S. wealth management business, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Some posts, which include those for trainees, were eliminated this week, and other job cuts have yet to be announced, according to the source. The laid-off advisers generally had less than $250,000 in annual production, though there were some exceptions.
Though rookie brokers were among those laid off, these job cuts are the first at a major brokerage company during the current financial crisis also to affect advisers paid by commission, not salary. Rookie brokers generally are salaried.
UBS plans to slash 2,000 jobs in its U.S. wealth management business as part of a plan to reduce its head count globally by 8,700 and cut operating costs by 15%.
UBS has already acted to shed lower-producing offices. In March, it said it would sell up to 55 of its 406 U.S. wealth management branches to Stifel Financial Corp.
