Diksha Session Held at SJMSOM-IIT Bombay by MD of UBS Leadership Institute

Diksha Session Held at SJMSOM-IIT Bombay by MD of UBS Leadership Institute

'Diksha' is the name given to the series of talks conducted by eminent speakers from the corporate world. These talks are organised as part of the continuous endeavour by the school to bring forth various issues and to attempt to find answers to them. On the 5th of September, Michael (Mike) Sweeney, Regional Head of Leadership

Development for the Asia Pacific (APAC) Region and Managing Director at the UBS Leadership Institute visited Shailesh J. Mehta School Of Management, IIT Bombay to share his views on the financial markets in Asia, how UBS approaches them and about talent management in this industry. UBS AG is a diversified global financial services company headquartered in Basel and Zurich, and UBS Leadership Institute is the wing of UBS that develops programs and processes to help senior leaders shape, communicate and implement the firm's strategy. Michael Sweeney is an MBA from London Business School, and is a regular speaker at leading Business Schools (Berkeley, MIT, NYU, London Business School, Penn State University, Hong Kong UST) and at international conferences.

UBS has been achieving 40% growth in the Asian region for the past four years, and Mike iterated the figures that made this phenomenal growth possible - Asia Pacific contributes to 25% of world GDP, 32% of equity market value and 29% of invest-able liquid assets. The markets of Japan and Hong Kong are the mature markets (per capita GDP of nearly 32,000 USD) of this region while Korea and Taiwan are developed markets, though not properly regulated. The business emphasis is on the emerging markets of China, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Mike contrasted India and China and asserted that the dynamics of these two economies are such that they can survive very well without eating into each other’s business.

UBS is handling diverse tasks of retail banking, wealth management, corporate business, asset management, brokerage, trading and investment banking. UBS made a foray into Asian markets and greatly flourished. In Mike’s own words, "There is no competitive advantage in designing a new product in a finance industry as it is very easily and quickly replicable. Knowledge, information and advice are a bank’s primary assets, and business thrives on the proper employment of this resource."

UBS, unlike many other international banks, refused to operate from remote head-quarters and set-up shop in local places. Commitment and trust are two cornerstones of setting up business of wealth and asset management. UBS is taking a keen look at the Indian companies that are going international, as it feels that these companies will soon be in need of drastic restructuring to suit the global markets. Speaking of Indian banks, Mike said that the country has opened up its economy, but it remains to be seen how quickly Indian banks can mature in terms of services and practices and how well the government deregulates and frees the market for competition. He cited the case of Australian banks after opening up of their economy; these banks matured so fast that the foreign banks trying to make a foray into their economy had to retreat with losses.

Mike gave a cursory into the streams that UBS has in India, namely, KPO services, and operations. UBS currently has around 1300 employees at its service centre and plans to expand greatly in the time to come. Talking of prospective employees, he said that the traits they look for are drive, ownership, curiosity, ethical orientation and the analytical prowess.

Concluded.

Contributed by -
Ankur Hazarika,
Batch of 2009,
Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Mumbai.

MBA Alumni \| MBA Students \| MBA Aspirants \| MBA Forums