UBS Investment Bank Units to See Bonus Pools Jump by Up To 20%
(Bloomberg) — Some units at UBS Group AG’s investment bank have seen their bonus pools rise by as much as 20% for 2025, people familiar with the matter said.
The bonus allocations have been announced internally, one of the people said. The people asked not to be named discussing private details.
Fourth quarter results published Wednesday showed the investment bank substantially aiding an overall group profit of $1.2 billion. The investment bank booked a 34% gain in operating profit last year, aided by the volatility unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught in the second quarter.
“This is the investment bank’s strongest top line year on record,” UBS Chief Financial Officer Todd Tuckner said on a call to analysts on Wednesday.
A UBS spokesperson declined to comment on the bonuses.
Within investment banking, the Asian Global Banking pool is up about 18%, according to a person familiar with the matter. Some US deal-makers had a bad year, other people familiar said.
In particular, revenue from fixed income and currency trading was strong, with a 31% gain on the previous year. Overall, traders boosted revenue 22%, whereas the advisory and M&A unit was down 7% on a year earlier.
Trading desks across Wall Street and at European banks seized on both tariff-fueled market volatility and a rally boosted by technology stocks tied to artificial intelligence throughout 2025. Last quarter, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. reported $15.4 billion in stock trading revenue – the highest for that period in at least five years.
The aggregate 2025 expense pool of leading European lenders’ investment banking divisions is expected to rise 1% vs. 2024 to almost €40 billion ($47.2 billion), according to Bloomberg Intelligence. “We see scope for a stronger increase given robust trading and deal-making through 2025,” they added.
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