UBS Rules Out Asset Management Split

John Fraser, chief executive of UBS Global Asset Management, has said there is no reason for the Swiss bank to spin off its asset management division to follow in the footsteps of rivals such as Merrill Lynch and Citigroup.

Fraser said: "It is unthinkable to divorce manufacturing (of funds) from the distribution... they go hand in hand."

Fraser spoke at a conference organised by the International Centre for Business Information.

He told the conference that UBS' asset management distribution channels were useful to the bank because they generated new ideas for products.

As of March 31, UBS Global Asset Management had $648 billion in assets under management.

In February, Merrill Lynch traded its asset management business for a 49 percent stake in money manager BlackRock in a deal which created a fund management business with nearly $1 trillion in assets.

In December, Citigroup sold its $400 billion asset management arm to U.S. fund manager Legg Mason.