UBS WM names Asia head to replace Shih

Nov 25, 2015

Current Southeast Asia head Edmund Koh will take up the new position, replacing Kathy Shih, who was also promoted recently.

UBS has promoted Edmund Koh to Asia-Pacific head of wealth management to replace Kathryn Shih, who has been named president of Asia Pacific for the Swiss group, as reported. These appointments will take effect from January 1, 2016.

Koh was previously head of Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific hub, which covers the domestic China, Taiwan and Japan businesses. He has been seen as being groomed for top management for several years. An announcement will be made about his Southeast Asia role in due course, said a spokeswoman.

Koh, who is also UBS’s Singapore head, joined the bank in early 2012 following 20 years in the Asian financial services industry. Before joining UBS, he was president and director of Ta Chong Bank and before that regional head of the consumer banking group at Singaporean bank DBS.

Shih was named president of Asia Pacific following Yoon Chi-Won’s decision to step down at the end of the year.

Shih has run UBS’s regional wealth business for the past 13 years out of a total of 29 years with the bank in various leadership roles, including Hong Kong chief executive.

Yoon will leave the role he has held for nearly seven years to take a sabbatical, before returning to explore opportunities within the group.

UBS is the largest wealth manager in the world and in Asia-Pacific by invested assets. At the end of 2014, its wealth management invested assets were Sfr2 trillion globally and Sfr269 billion ($264 billion) in Asia Pacific. UBS WM employs some 2,000 employees across Asia Pacific and has 13 locations across the region.