Ermotti launches its portfolio for its UBS – Economy

Sergio Ermotti does not understand why the course of action of UBS. that he leads, develops so weakly. Since the beginning of the year, the title has lost 27%. After all, there was a glimmer of hope last Thursday when the big bank posted better profits than expected. Initially, the share of UBS has increased sharply, while the Swiss stock market has collapsed. But there was nothing left in the end. A week ago, the stock was even slightly higher than this Tuesday morning.

True conviction is shown when someone puts his hand in the fire. The Anglo-Saxons talk about "Skin in the Game". The UBS boss is now setting fire to his hand or his wallet: 13.12 million Swiss francs are holding the belief that the UBS stock is undervalued. For this amount, he bought a million titles from "his" big bank. He spent almost his salary last year, one million francs less. Because it was 14.2 million francs.

The hand in the fire had Ermotti but even before his recent purchase. According to the 2017 annual report, he already owned 2.09 million UBS shares. If he has not sold in the meantime, he now owns at least 3 million shares of his house. According to the annual report last year, no one in the direction of the big bank has any more.

The competitor also accepts

Ermotti is by no means the only one to be convinced that UBS deserves a higher stock value. Most badysts agree with him. Those in the local competition, Credit Suisse, even anticipate an increase to 22 francs. But perhaps here he plays a transfer in the sense of the psychologist Sigmund Freud with: Thus, the unconscious or conscious desire that their own shares increase slightly. As in the case of UBS, shares of CS are not changed, but they are also 27% lower than the value of the beginning of the year.

Lost: The UBS stock price of the last 12 months. Graphic: Google / SIX

Mr Ermotti could of course point out that this comparison with CS or with the whole industry shows that banks are not generally favored by investors. The share of Deutsche Bank, for example, is 46% lower than that of the beginning of the year and is therefore much worse than that of the two Swiss competitors.

But that's not Sergio Ermotti. During his meeting with investors in London last week, he said his bank was much better in its market than the competition, even at the national level. Unfortunately, investors are not convinced so far.

As soon as Frey launched his actions

The fact that the largest staff of UBS has its own money does not always go without saying. In 2008, Rainer Marc Frey, just appointed board member of the big bank, sold all of his UBS shares – another million. The former hedge fund manager apologized to the public for his mistrust of the bank after the storm of indignation at the time. Given his own finances, the action in favor of Frey was worth it however, because with the UBS paper, it sgraded after its sale.

The question remains whether the reverse applies to the purchase of Ermotti. After all, the UBS share price has risen slightly today, even more than that of Credit Suisse. It is unlikely that this can be attributed to the confidence of 13.12 million Swiss francs granted to the boss. The million shares bought by Ermotti represents only 0.026% of the total 3.8 billion shares of the big bank. And for price performance, investor expectations matter more than the purchases of their bosses. Despite all his efforts, he has so far only slightly influenced these expectations.
(Tages-Anzeiger)

Created: 30.10.2018, 19:17