Jahresrückblick 2021

Wir sind schockiert über die Gewalt und die menschlichen Tragödien, die die Invasion der Ukraine durch Russland verursacht. Unser Mitgefühl gilt den Betroffenen und Leidtragenden.

Wir arbeiten an der Umsetzung der Sanktionen, die von der Schweiz, den USA, der EU, Grossbritannien und anderen Ländern in einem noch nie dagewesenen Umfang gegen Russland sowie bestimmte russische Unternehmen und Staatsangehörige verhängt worden sind. Diese Geschehnisse, aber auch die von Russland ergriffenen Gegensanktionen und sonstigen Massnahmen, werden anhaltende Auswirkungen auf die Märkte und auf die globale Wirtschaft haben.

Zur Unterstützung der Kriegsopfer in der Ukraine leisten die UBS Optimus Foundation und unsere Community-Impact-Teams in Zusammenarbeit mit dem International Rescue Committee Nothilfe für Flüchtlinge. Wir verdoppeln alle diesbezüglichen Spenden von Mitarbeitenden und Kunden bis zu einer Gesamthöhe von 5 Millionen US-Dollar, was einen Gesamtbetrag von 10 Millionen US-Dollar ergibt.

Der Jahresrückblick gibt Anlegern, Kunden und anderen Anspruchsgruppen einen kurzen Überblick über unser Geschäft, unsere Strategie und das Finanzergebnis 2021. Er sollte im Zusammenhang mit dem Annual Report 2021 von UBS gelesen werden, der ausführlichere Informationen und Offenlegungen einschliesslich des Lageberichts der Konzernleitung sowie geprüfter Rechnungsabschlüsse enthält. Im Geschäftsbericht 2021 ist beschrieben, wie der Annual Report 2021 und sonstige öffentlich verfügbare Informationen über UBS, darunter der Annual Report 2021 gemäss Formular 20-F für das am 31. Dezember 2021 zu Ende gegangene Geschäftsjahr, bezogen werden können. Die Informationen in diesem Dokument stellen keine Aufforderung zum Kauf von Wertpapieren oder anderen Finanzinstrumenten dar, weder in der Schweiz noch in den USA oder sonstigen Jurisdiktionen. Anlageentscheidungen im Zusammenhang mit UBS-Wertschriften oder mit UBS Group AG sollten nicht auf der Grundlage dieses Dokuments erfolgen. Sofern nicht anders angegeben, beziehen sich die Zahlen auf das am 31. Dezember 2021 zu Ende gegangene Geschäftsjahr.

The use of the SDG logo, including the color wheel, and icons by an entity does not imply the endorsement of the United Nations of such entity, its products or services, or of its planned activities.

Not all products and services described herein are available in all jurisdictions.

Sustainable investing strategies aim to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into investment process and portfolio construction. Strategies across geographies and styles approach ESG analysis and incorporate the findings in a variety of ways. The returns on portfolios consisting primarily of sustainable investments may be lower or higher than portfolios where ESG factors, exclusions, or other sustainability issues are not considered, and the investment opportunities available to such portfolios may also differ.

Awards were independently determined and awarded by the publication’s editorial team. For more information, visit their website. UBS did not pay a fee in exchange for these awards.

The UBS Optimus Foundation is a grant-making foundation that helps UBS clients use their wealth to drive positive social change for children. The foundation selects programs that improve children’s health, education and protection, ones that have the potential to be transformative, scalable and sustainable.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements | This report contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements,” including but not limited to management’s outlook for UBS’s financial performance, statements relating to the anticipated effect of transactions and strategic initiatives on UBS’s business and future development and goals or intentions to achieve climate, sustainability and other social objectives. While these forward-looking statements represent UBS’s judgments, expectations and objectives concerning the matters described, a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors could cause actual developments and results to differ materially from UBS’s expectations. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to heightened volatility across global markets and to the coordinated implementation of sanctions on Russia, Russian entities and nationals. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine already has caused significant population displacement, and as the conflict continues, the disruption will likely increase. The scale of the conflict and the speed and extent of sanctions, as well as the uncertainty as to how the situation will develop, may have significant adverse effects to the market and macroeconomic conditions, including in ways that cannot be anticipated. This creates significantly greater uncertainty about forward-looking statements. The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to manage it have had and may also continue to have a significant adverse effect on global and regional economic activity, including disruptions to global supply chains, inflationary pressures, and labor market displacements. Factors that may affect our performance and ability to achieve our plans, outlook and other objectives also include, but are not limited to: (i) the degree to which UBS is successful in the ongoing execution of its strategic plans, including its cost reduction and efficiency initiatives and its ability to manage its levels of risk-weighted assets (RWA) and leverage ratio denominator (LRD), liquidity coverage ratio and other financial resources, including changes in RWA assets and liabilities arising from higher market volatility; (ii) the degree to which UBS is successful in implementing changes to its businesses to meet changing market, regulatory and other conditions; (iii) the continuing low or negative interest rate environment in Switzerland and other jurisdictions; (iv) developments in the macroeconomic climate and in the markets in which UBS operates or to which it is exposed, including movements in securities prices or liquidity, credit spreads, and currency exchange rates, and the effects of economic conditions, market developments, and increasing geopolitical tensions, and changes to national trade policies on the financial position or creditworthiness of UBS’s clients and counterparties, as well as on client sentiment and levels of activity; (v) changes in the availability of capital and funding, including any changes in UBS’s credit spreads and ratings, as well as availability and cost of funding to meet requirements for debt eligible for total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC); (vi) changes in central bank policies or the implementation of financial legislation and regulation in Switzerland, the US, the UK, the European Union and other financial centers that have imposed, or resulted in, or may do so in the future, more stringent or entity-specific capital, TLAC, leverage ratio, net stable funding ratio, liquidity and funding requirements, heightened operational resilience requirements, incremental tax requirements, additional levies, limitations on permitted activities, constraints on remuneration, constraints on transfers of capital and liquidity and sharing of operational costs across the Group or other measures, and the effect these will or would have on UBS’s business activities; (vii) UBS’s ability to successfully implement resolvability and related regulatory requirements and the potential need to make further changes to the legal structure or booking model of UBS Group in response to legal and regulatory requirements, or other external developments; (viii) UBS’s ability to maintain and improve its systems and controls for complying with sanctions and for the detection and prevention of money laundering to meet evolving regulatory requirements and expectations, in particular in current geopolitical turmoil; (ix) the uncertainty arising from domestic stresses in certain major economies; (x) changes in UBS’s competitive position, including whether differences in regulatory capital and other requirements among the major financial centers adversely affect UBS’s ability to compete in certain lines of business; (xi) changes in the standards of conduct applicable to our businesses that may result from new regulations or new enforcement of existing standards, including measures to impose new and enhanced duties when interacting with customers and in the execution and handling of customer transactions; (xii) the liability to which UBS may be exposed, or possible constraints or sanctions that regulatory authorities might impose on UBS, due to litigation, contractual claims and regulatory investigations, including the potential for disqualification from certain businesses, potentially large fines or monetary penalties, or the loss of licenses or privileges as a result of regulatory or other governmental sanctions, as well as the effect that litigation, regulatory and similar matters have on the operational risk component of our RWA, as well as the amount of capital available for return to shareholders; (xiii) the effects on UBS’s cross-border banking business of sanctions, tax or regulatory developments and of possible changes in UBS’s policies and practices relating to this business; (xiv) UBS’s ability to retain and attract the employees necessary to generate revenues and to manage, support and control its businesses, which may be affected by competitive factors; (xv) changes in accounting or tax standards or policies, and determinations or interpretations affecting the recognition of gain or loss, the valuation of goodwill, the recognition of deferred tax assets and other matters; (xvi) UBS’s ability to implement new technologies and business methods, including digital services and technologies, and ability to successfully compete with both existing and new financial service providers, some of which may not be regulated to the same extent; (xvii) limitations on the effectiveness of UBS’s internal processes for risk management, risk control, measurement and modeling, and of financial models generally; (xviii) the occurrence of operational failures, such as fraud, misconduct, unauthorized trading, financial crime, cyberattacks, data leakage and systems failures, the risk of which is increased with cyberattack threats from nation states and while COVID-19 control measures require large portions of the staff of both UBS and its service providers to work remotely; (xix) restrictions on the ability of UBS Group AG to make payments or distributions, including due to restrictions on the ability of its subsidiaries to make loans or distributions, directly or indirectly, or, in the case of financial difficulties, due to the exercise by FINMA or the regulators of UBS’s operations in other countries of their broad statutory powers in relation to protective measures, restructuring and liquidation proceedings; (xx) the degree to which changes in regulation, capital or legal structure, financial results or other factors may affect UBS’s ability to maintain its stated capital return objective; (xxi) uncertainty over the scope of actions that may be required by UBS, governments and others to achieve goals relating to climate, environmental and social matters, as well as the evolving nature of underlying science and industry and governmental standards; and (xxii) the effect that these or other factors or unanticipated events may have on our reputation and the additional consequences that this may have on our business and performance. The sequence in which the factors above are presented is not indicative of their likelihood of occurrence or the potential magnitude of their consequences. Our business and financial performance could be affected by other factors identified in our past and future filings and reports, including those filed with the SEC. More detailed information about those factors is set forth in documents furnished by UBS and filings made by UBS with the SEC, including UBS’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2021. UBS is not under any obligation to (and expressly disclaims any obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Rounding | Numbers presented throughout this report may not add up precisely to the totals provided in the tables and text. Percentages and percent changes disclosed in text and tables are calculated on the basis of unrounded figures. Absolute changes between reporting periods disclosed in the text, which can be derived from numbers presented in related tables, are calculated on a rounded basis.

Tables | Within tables, blank fields generally indicate non-applicability or that presentation of any content would not be meaningful, or that information is not available as of the relevant date or for the relevant period. Zero values generally indicate that the respective figure is zero on an actual or rounded basis. Values that are zero on a rounded basis can be either negative or positive on an actual basis.

Sprachversionen | Dieses Dokument wurde im Interesse unserer Deutsch sprechenden Investoren und sonstiger Anspruchsgruppen erstellt. Sollten sich Unterschiede im Verständnis der deutschen und englischen Version ergeben, hat die englische Version Vorrang, da diese als das offizielle Dokument gilt.