Latest news with #UBP
Irish Independent
19-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
‘DEI is not just a trend' – How organisations can reframe the push back against diversity
Today at 21:30 'When it comes to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), it's important to recognise that it's not just a trend, it's not a habit. It can't just be a one-off initiative,' said Dr Mamobo Ogoro, a psychologist as well as CEO and founder of GORM. Ms Ogoro set up GORM, a consultancy and social media platform, in order to help educate organisations about diversity in the workplace. She says businesses need to respond now against the new sentiment against DEI policies, given that Ireland has an increasingly diverse workforce. 'Rather than push back, businesses need to counter the growing scepticism around DEI. The first step is to acknowledge that the scepticism exists, and that it comes with fear, misconception, and sometimes even fatigue,' she said. 'DEI affects all of us. It shapes how we relate to each other in the workplace. It's important to understand that DEI isn't about taking anything away. It's about ensuring everyone has a fair chance to participate, thrive, and engage meaningfully in their work.' Ms Ogoro believes that businesses need to learn about 'intercultural competence' in order to maintain their DEI policies, following the global backlash against it, which started in America around the re-election of president Donald Trump. 'Intercultural competence is the ability to engage confidently across cultural differences. It strengthens organisational leadership, builds trust, and promotes cohesion in diverse work environments,' she said. 'We have to acknowledge the historical inequities that certain communities have faced – that's why the focus often sits there. The way to do this is strategically, through internal and external communication within the company and by building cultural competence between communities and groups within the organisation.' GORM has worked with companies including PTSB and EY to launch a Unified Business Programme (UBP) which aims to train companies to promote DEI policies. The company said it designed UBP as a response to anti-immigration protests in Ireland, and says it wants to build a sense of unity into daily processes, teams, and workspaces. 'It's important to identify the push back, and to reframe it. Reframing means understanding that DEI is fundamentally about fairness, not just for one group, but for everyone,' said Ms Ogoro. 'It's about creating a workplace where each person has an equal opportunity to participate, contribute, and do their best work. 'When businesses get this right, the results speak for themselves. Countless studies show the positive impact of DEI, not just on internal culture, but on market performance too.'
Business Times
22-04-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Tariffs challenge: What markets are and aren't pricing in
MARCH and early April saw a surge in volatility with global equity markets falling; extreme two-way swings in US bond yields; gold prices pressing substantially higher; and the greenback sliding as uncertainty about the path forwards for the global economy and the global order grew in only the third month of President Donald Trump's term in office. Indeed, the new administration unveiled wide-ranging tariffs in early April, and markets moved to price in the prospect that these actions would put a medium-term dampener on economic growth, as well as upward pressure on inflation with an effective tax on the American consumer and businesses. Patrice Gautry, UBP chief economist, estimates that tariffs could push average headline inflation above 4 per cent depending on the breadth of implementation and potential retaliation, with US economic growth potentially falling to less than 1 per cent in the quarters ahead. Markets, just like US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, appeared to initially focus on the second potential impact – weaker growth – and only a 'transitory' rise in inflation, as described by Powell in his March press conference. The two-year inflation expectations have risen in recent weeks, but five-year inflation expectations are now the most deeply below their two-year counterparts since 1980, outside the 2020 global pandemic's initial deflationary shock. This suggests that markets are not focused on medium-term inflationary concerns. Instead, US Treasury yields are closer to pricing a recessionary environment – weak growth and weak medium-term inflation. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Global equity investors have similarly repriced growth expectations, as apparent in the sharp fall in US equities, while the early-2025 rallies in European and Chinese equity markets have since unwound. Despite the turmoil of March and April, overall valuations in global equity markets have only returned to near-historical averages. This suggests that global equities have simply unpriced – rightly, in our view – a repeat of the 2017 US-centric economic and corporate earnings boom that came in Trump's first year in office, in favour of more moderate but still supportive economic and earnings growth expectations. These more measured expectations, though, are likely still more optimistic than our base case scenarios and certainly fail to reach the recessionary environment that bonds increasingly priced in following Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff announcement. Indeed, while US equities have reversed the Trump election-inspired valuation optimism, earnings expectations have not yet corrected enough to price in the recessionary scenario that bond markets fear. In a similar vein, European equities have retraced the early-2025 gains fuelled by hopes of economic recovery following the historic fiscal stimulus approved by Germany's government. In light of tariffs, valuations have retreated, though they still sit above historical averages. This suggests a market expectation that either Germany's fiscal spending can offset much of the export headwind from American tariffs, or that the US trade levies may not return following their 90-day pause. Such expectations stand in contrast to the Treasury market pricing in an economic downturn that might come with the promised retaliation measures. In contrast, in China, the January unveiling of DeepSeek's R1 artificial intelligence model rekindled 'animal spirits', driving valuations up to levels not seen since prior to the global pandemic. The tariff announcements have, even more so than in Europe and the US, almost fully reversed the valuation expansion seen since late 2024. Despite this, earnings optimism has grown especially among the nation's technology leaders. As a result, China – now subject to the most onerous tariffs from the world's largest economy – has seen its equity markets increasingly price a recessionary outcome, with valuations approaching historical cycle lows. A key risk to the growing concern over global economic growth prospects, as reflected in bond and select equity markets, is fiscal policies just over the horizon. Trump's tax cuts and broader budget plan are set to be unveiled ahead of the July-August debt ceiling deadline. Moreover, with the Friedrich Merz-led German governing coalition now formed and set to spend, the European Union is still negotiating to match Germany's fiscal largesse across defence and infrastructure. Similarly, China looks set to lay out its own measures. It rolls out the next iteration of its Five-Year Plan by October, as it seeks to transform itself into a more consumer-led economy as tariffs threaten its export orientation. Such measures across the three largest economic blocs in the world, if substantial and delivered on schedule, remain unpriced across global bond and equity markets currently. The one asset that has weathered Trump 2.0 well to date has been gold, having breached US$3,400 an ounce in April. A structurally weak greenback appears to be unfolding – as evidenced by the breakout in the euro relative to the US dollar into the US$1.10 to US$1.20 range. Historically, greenback weakness has been a key catalyst for secular gold bull markets. This catalyst complements central bank purchases of gold at the expense of US Treasury bonds. This began following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as the US froze Russia's central bank holdings of government bonds. Currently, even Europeans are wary of holding US Treasuries as reserve assets. A broadening of central bank and private sector purchases of gold rather than the previous safe-haven US Treasuries is among the growing signs of capital flight from US dollar assets. In 1971, similar signs presaged the severe disruptions in the global monetary orders. In combination, the structural weaker greenback and capital flight from US dollar assets should now drive gold towards US$4,000 per ounce by early 2026. Thus, even with Trump's announced tariffs, and despite the declines in equity markets and volatility in bond yields, markets are still in the process of pricing in the impact on growth and inflation. Beyond this, investors should not overlook the fiscal policies that likely will come in the months ahead to protect domestic economies around the world. As a result, investors will need to continue to lean on assets, such as gold, hedge funds and cash, as their strategic foundation for risk management, and complement this with the tactical overlays that have been valuable amid the recent market turmoil – until markets more fully price in the new growth, inflation, monetary, fiscal and geopolitical landscapes taking shape around the world. The writer is group chief strategist at Union Bancaire Privee, a private bank and wealth management firm
Al Jazeera
07-04-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Hong Kong stock market plunges most since '97 crisis amid tariffs panic
Hong Kong's stock market has suffered its steepest single-day decline in nearly three decades amid a wave of panic selling brought on by United States President Donald Trump's tariff announcements. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 13.22 percent on Monday, after plunging as much as 13.74 percent during the day. It was sharpest plunge for Hong Kong stocks since the index tumbled 13.7 percent in a single day during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. On the worst day for Hong Kong stocks during the 2007-09 global financial crisis, the index fell 12.7 percent. The rout came after Trump doubled down on his sweeping tariffs overnight, likening the measures to 'medicine', and following China's announcement last week that it would retaliate with a 34 percent tariff on US imports. 'Friday was a public holiday in Hong Kong, so what we are seeing is the reaction to Trump's tariffs and China's retaliation. So it's a double whammy,' Carlos Casanova, a senior economist with UBP in Hong Kong, told Al Jazeera. 'To put this into context, previous retaliatory measures targeted less than 1 percent of China's total imports. The magnitude of the last measures is unprecedented,' Casanova said. 'We're in uncharted territory.' Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, said the performance of the Hong Kong market offered a more accurate gauge of investors' sentiment around the impact of Trump's tariffs on China's economy than the stock markets on the Chinese mainland. 'The point is you cannot trade freely in China. You cannot short Chinese, you can do all of that in Hong Kong. So it's obviously reflecting what is going on much better than Chinese stocks,' Garcia Herrero told Al Jazeera. Hong Kong stocks were by far the worst performers on a dismal day overall for Asia's markets, with equities in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and Singapore all suffering steep declines. Global stock markets have shed trillions of dollars in value since Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on almost all countries on Wednesday. US customs authorities began imposing a baseline tariff of 10 percent on imports on Sunday, with steeper duties of between 11 percent and 50 percent set to go into effect on Wednesday. US stocks have shed more than $6 trillion in value since Trump's 'Liberation Day' announcement. Further steep losses are likely when Wall Street reopens on Monday, with futures tied to the benchmark S&P500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 down 2.7 percent and 3.55 percent, respectively.
Zawya
02-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Union Bancaire Privée completes acquisition of SG Kleinwort Hambros
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA (UBP) announces the successful completion of its acquisition of SG Kleinwort Hambros from Societe Generale, marking a significant milestone in the Bank's international growth strategy. Effective today, SG Kleinwort Hambros becomes Union Bancaire Privée (UK) Limited, with Mouhammed Choukeir appointed as its Chief Executive Officer. He will lead all of UBP's Wealth Management activities in the UK, Channel Islands, and Gibraltar and steer the integration of the teams while defining a strategy for integrated wealth and asset management solutions for both domestic and international clients. All UBP London-based teams will move into a new office in Marylebone later this year. With this transaction, UBP becomes one of the UK's largest family-owned pure-play private banks, managing over GBP 20 billion of client assets with offices in London and other key locations across Great Britain, in addition to Guernsey, Jersey, and Gibraltar. The integration of SG Kleinwort Hambros' experienced teams into UBP's UK operations further strengthens the Bank's expertise in delivering tailored wealth and asset management solutions for private and institutional clients. UBP has maintained a strong presence in the UK for nearly three decades, steadily expanding its wealth and asset management capabilities. UBP's CEO, Guy de Picciotto, said: "This acquisition is a defining moment for UBP. It reaffirms our long-term commitment to the UK. With our combined expertise, we are building a powerful platform for future growth, innovation, and leadership in wealth and asset management. Our clients will continue to enjoy the same personalised approach they value, with the added benefit of even greater expertise and more personalised solutions." Mouhammed Choukeir, CEO of Union Bancaire Privée (UK) Limited, added: 'Becoming UBP is a fantastic result for our clients and teams. The integration of the two organisations, combined with the Bank's global presence, deep expertise in wealth and asset management, and entrepreneurial spirit, positions us well to deliver exceptional solutions for clients. This acquisition is not just a milestone for UBP; it's an opportunity to drive long-term growth and further solidify our commitment to delivering excellence in everything we do.' This acquisition reasserts UBP's strategic focus on global growth. It underscores the Bank's dedication to offering best-in-class wealth and asset management solutions, supported by its client-first ethos and deep expertise in wealth planning, investment management, and banking. As a family-owned and -managed Bank, UBP's entrepreneurial mindset drives agile decision-making in a fast-changing world. Operating from more than 25 offices worldwide with a team of 2,140 professionals (as of 31 December 2024), the Bank provides clients with unparalleled access to worldwide investment opportunities. Alongside the acquisition of SG Kleinwort Hambros, UBP also acquired Societe Generale Private Banking (Switzerland) Ltd, a transaction which was completed in January 2025. As a result, UBP's total assets under management, which stood at GBP 135.4 billion (CHF 154.4 billion) as of 31 December 2024, will increase by more than GBP 21.9 billion (CHF 25 billion). For any further information, please contact: Bernard Schuster Danila Andreev Group Head of Communications (Spokesman) Account Director, Peregrine Communications E-mail: E-mail: ubp@ About Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) UBP is one of the world's largest family-owned private banks, focused exclusively on wealth and asset management for private and institutional clients. UBP manages CHF 154.4 billion in client assets and is well-capitalised with strong financial foundations and a robust balance sheet. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Bank employs 2,140 people across more than 25 offices worldwide (as of 31 December 2024).
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UBP boosts UK presence with SG Kleinwort Hambros deal
Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) has announced the successful completion of its acquisition of UK-based SG Kleinwort Hambros from Societe Generale. As a result, SG Kleinwort Hambos will become Union Bancaire Privée (UK) Limited. UBP now manages over £20bn of client assets in the UK and will be lead by Mouhammed Choukeir, CEO of Union Bancaire Privée (UK). He will be in charge of all of UBP's wealth activity in the UK, Channel Islands and Gibraltar. Furthermore, merging the SG Kleinwort Hambros and UBP teams strengthens the expertise available to the bank. UBP's CEO, Guy de Picciotto, said: "This acquisition is a defining moment for UBP. It reaffirms our long-term commitment to the UK. With our combined expertise, we are building a powerful platform for future growth, innovation, and leadership in wealth and asset management. Our clients will continue to enjoy the same personalised approach they value, with the added benefit of even greater expertise and more personalised solutions." Choukeir added: 'Becoming UBP is a fantastic result for our clients and teams. The integration of the two organisations, combined with the Bank's global presence, deep expertise in wealth and asset management, and entrepreneurial spirit, positions us well to deliver exceptional solutions for clients. This acquisition is not just a milestone for UBP; it's an opportunity to drive long-term growth and further solidify our commitment to delivering excellence in everything we do.' Alongside the acquisition of SG Kleinwort Hambros, UBP also acquired Societe Generale Private Banking (Switzerland), a transaction which was completed in January 2025. As a result, UBP's total assets under management, which stood at £135.4bn (CHF154.4bn) as of 31 December 2024, will increase by more than £21.9bn (CHF25bn). "UBP boosts UK presence with SG Kleinwort Hambros deal" was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
