A defining strength of UBS is financial management: our prudence in managing and deploying capital resources – the transparency of our financial communications – our sound risk management processes.
UBS’s financial strength makes it one of the best capitalized banks in the world. Yet how does a global institution of scope and scale mesh its diverse financial strategies and processes into a cohesive whole? The answer is through a thorough commitment to the creation of shareholder value.
Traditionally, business thinking has focused on the profitability of products or services. Our goal goes beyond that - to create a common understanding - both internally and externally - of shareholder value creation within all of UBS's businesses. We achieve this through the publication of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which identify the primary sources and drivers of value creation. This value-driven management approach is integrated into all our management processes to ensure that all UBS actions add value.
Throughout our history, prudent capital management has been a trademark of UBS. Our focus when managing capital is to employ all the tools at hand, while assuring a balance between the maximization of shareholder value and our strong inherent levels of capitalization. Our strong earnings generation and careful management of our balance sheet mean that UBS continues to generate capital well in excess of our minimum regulatory requirements.
Because risk is an integral part of our business, the main role of our risk management experts is to find the optimal balance between risk and return. Excellence in this area is a key success factor and requires the commitment of everyone within our organization. Fundamentally, sound risk management is based on implementing an appropriate governance model, and institutionalizing checks and balances between business representatives and risk managers.
