(April 17): UBS Group AG’s senior wealth banker Lionel Yoong has left the Swiss firm, adding to several recent departures from the group covering Indonesia from Singapore.
The former Credit Suisse Group AG banker is the third market head for Indonesia to leave UBS since the start of last year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. UBS hasn’t replaced the other two who joined other firms last year, and it’s not clear why Yoong left, the people said, asking not to be named discussing personnel matters.
UBS declined to comment. Yoong did not respond to a request for comment.
Indonesia is an important wealth market in Asia outside of China, where UBS is the largest private bank by size of assets it manages. Tycoons in Southeast Asia’s largest economy have amassed vast amounts of wealth through the conglomerates they control. Despite the departures, UBS is firmly committed to the market, one of the people said.
UBS appointed five market heads for Indonesia, including Yoong, in 2023. Two of them left in 2025 and joined HSBC Holdings Plc and Julius Baer Group Ltd. The British lender also hired two other Indonesia bankers from UBS in the past year.
In Asia, UBS is looking to recruit 100 bankers across the wealth management segment this year, chief executive officer Sergio Ermotti said earlier this year. There are plans to hire 50 wealth bankers in Hong Kong after the North Asia business raked in record revenues, according to regional co-head Amy Lo. The other co-head is Young Jin Yee, whose responsibility includes Southeast Asia and Australia.
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The Swiss bank had earlier reduced its headcount in Asia-Pacific after its 2023 takeover of Credit Suisse. The number of client advisors, known also as private bankers, in the region dropped to 910 as of end-December, from 1,101 at the end of 2023, according to UBS’ filings. Still, the firm managed to increase the amount of invested assets in the region by more than 20% to US$795 billion over the same period.
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