Strategy & Practice Management

UBS changes track in India

UBS will double headcount in India to 3,000 people by the end of this calendar year, a senior official from the firm told local media.

UBS will double headcount in India to 3,000 people by the end of this calendar year, a senior official from the firm told local media. 

In an interview with the Economic Times, Kirt Gardner, Group Chief Financial Officer at UBS, said that the wealth manager is shifting its strategy from outsourcing to setting up captive centres in India.

These captive centres will house critical processes in functions as crucial as finance and accounts, branding and marketing, and human resources.

“India is a significant part of our talent and technology strategy. We are setting up more captive centres here with the addition of a new one in Pune,” he said. 

UBS already has two captive centres in Mumbai and Pune.

Gardner said that the bank is also looking at recent regulatory developments that could let it to re­establish a wealth management presence in the Indian market.

In February this year, the Indian stock market regulator said that it would allow wealth management arms of private banks to invest in securities on behalf of their offshore clients. 

“We are impressed with the ease of doing business in India in the past three years and consider this to be a strategic market for us,” Gardner said.