[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

UBS AG is making quick work of its plan to restructure its business.  Amid its Q3 loss of nearly 2.2 billion Swiss francs, or -0.58 Swiss francs per share, compared to a year ago, several developments have begun to play out at the Swiss bank:

• The bank will complete the previously announced cutting of 10,000 jobs by 2015
• The elimination of certain business, including fixed income will help the bank trim from 63,745 to 54,000
• Wealth-management operations, led by Robert McCann, in the Americas reported success:

   

  • a pre-tax profit of $230 million, up 35% from a year ago and 9% from the previous quarter.
  • net new money was $4.8 billion, up from $3.8 billion in the previous quarter but down slightly from $5 billion a year ago
  • In the second quarter, net new money was $9.8 billion versus $9.0 billion in the second quarter, up from $9.7 billion a year ago

"The strong progress we have made over the last 12 months allows us to begin implementing this next phase of our strategy. We are ahead of schedule in our plans to build additional capital strength and reduce both costs and risk-weighted assets." -- Sergio Ermotti, CEO since last year, in a press release.

Does it pay to be in wealth management? Are the 16,182 individuals, including 7,032 financial advisors, in wealth-management operations safe from being cut out of the picture?  Despite the group's expansion by 11 from 7,021 in the second quarter, and by 119 from 6,913 a year ago, the unit's success continues to unfold:

• Total operating income was $1.6 billion, an increase of $44 million from the previous quarter, which the firm attributed to higher transaction-based revenue
• Net fee and commission income increased by $36 million in the second quarter to $1.2-plus billion, as transaction-based revenue increased 12% because higher commission income from equities products.
• Total client assets for the unit were 823 billion Swiss francs, nearly $883 billion, versus 795 billion Swiss francs in the prior quarter and 686 billion Swiss francs a year before.

For further details, go to [AdvisorOne, 10/30/12]  .