The UBS Financial Advisor recruiting process

A process designed with you in mind: simple and transparent

by David Larado, Head, Advisor Recruiting & Retention, UBS Wealth Management

As a successful financial advisor, are there moments in your career when you think about changing firms? A move to a firm with a better cultural fit for you and your clients? A firm where you have more opportunities to grow, more tools and resources to support your clients, and can expect to see yourself spending the balance of your professional career?

For many advisors thinking about a change like this, one of the biggest questions is how to get started with the process. You expect that changing firms will involve a big time commitment and might seem overwhelming as you think about the time away from serving your clients and the lack of visibility into the recruiting process.

At UBS, our advisor recruiting is built on clarity and transparency. With a commitment to supporting the needs of advisors, we look to make your life easier and the overall process less time-consuming, saving you from worries and uncertainty. 

We talked with Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo. We just wanted to move once. Things were transparent with UBS.
2021 J.P. Morgan recruit

In fact, a 2021 UBS research study with new advisors found that for many, if they knew how simple our recruiting process was, they would have made the switch sooner. From a 2021 J.P. Morgan recruit, “We talked with Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo. We just wanted to move once. We were looking for a transparent platform and open architecture. Things were transparent with UBS.”

The UBS five-step advisor recruiting process

Our advisor recruiting process takes each recruit through five steps:

Graphic displaying the five steps; 1 Engagement, 2 Diligence, 3 Illustrations, 4 Approvals, 5 Finalize

Engagement:
Get to know each other

A local UBS Field Leader is your primary point of contact during this first step. Our Field Leaders are considered the “local CEOs.” They oversee the wealth management business in their geography, collaborating closely with the advisors and the clients they serve. A local Field Leader guides you through the recruiting process, introducing you to the resources you can leverage throughout the firm.

Field Leaders look to attract and retain top recruits who have the right cultural fit, run a practice focused on high net worth and ultra high net worth clients, and embrace a full suite of wealth management solutions. If early conversations between you and a UBS Field Leader determine interest in exploring the possibilities, we move forward. In that case, you complete our “Exploring Our Firm” (EOF) primary application package.

Diligence:
Deepen the engagement

The diligence process starts with eight initial questions to help us learn about you, your team and the type of business you run. These questions help us get to know you and your practice better. At the same time, you continue to learn more about UBS with our Field Leader as your guide. Our Field Leader serves as your concierge along the journey, introducing you to business partners and more firm resources.

In the next part of our diligence process, we complete our “Business Evaluation Worksheet” (BEW) together. We seek to understand your business better; focusing on your business model, household details, growth over time and product penetration.

Illustrations:
Focus on compensation exploration

When it comes to advisor compensation, we are proud of our competitive positioning in the industry. As we imagine a recruit’s career with UBS, we think of it as a journey divided into three stages: join UBS, grow with us and retire from UBS.

Because every deal is customized to attract and retain top talent, we commit to healthy negotiations in every area. We spend the time it takes to help you explore all the deal options and fully understand how compensation works at UBS. Our Deal Illustrator (DI) provides you with an overview of the cumulative compensation you stand to earn at UBS, inclusive of (1) the recruit deal, (2) FA compensation plan and (3) the transition programs.

Approvals:
Ensure a smooth transition

The next step involves the final internal review of all documentation and approvals by our senior leadership team. Once our internal approval process is complete, we are ready to move forward with the finalization process.

Take control of your future

This last step starts with issuing an official Letter of Understanding (“LOU”), our formal document that outlines your final terms and conditions. Once the LOU is complete, we begin the resignation planning process. This planning process includes extra support to ensure the move is smooth. From access to outside counsel, who we retain on your behalf, to advice on business strategy and planning, we provide you with all the tools needed.

Our white-glove concierge transition service will help simplify and streamline your account opening process. This dedicated team of professionals is available at no expense to you and at your disposal to help manage your administrative needs, including onboarding client accounts and anything else.

Coming soon

Enhancing our recruiting process with innovative technology

Later this year, we will be introducing transformative technology to our recruiting process, creating a tailored platform to streamline output and accelerate execution. Through a partnership with DocuSign, we will be the first firm in our industry to integrate innovative digital technology that provides greater clarity and transparency to recruits.

Accessed on the Financial Advisor Experience | fa(X) portal, our new technology will help streamline complex communications and offer recruits:

  • A secure environment for communication and document transfer
  • Advanced controls to enable direct access to folders and subfolders based on each person’s need to know and involvement at each step in the process
  • A consistent and efficient workflow process for each recruit
  • The capability to review and eSign documents and contracts in shared folders

Launching this new recruiting technology will allow us to transform the recruit’s journey, saving time and changing the dynamics and the structure of the entire process.

Our commitment to you and the recruiting process: the timeline

Even with the hundreds of recruits we connect with across the country, the number one question is generally the same: How long does it take? Your journey’s timeline depends on your unique situation and the complexity of your business. In many cases, the timetable is driven by a recruit’s desire to move quickly or take the process slower, both of which we try to match.

Regardless of how long it might take, we aim to complete the process as quickly as possible while adhering to our clear and transparent five-step process. “In my conversations with new advisors, I frequently hear how pleased they were with our streamlined and transparent recruiting process. We provide guidance to recruits through every step of the way and show them all aspects of the firm so they could make the right decision for them and their clients. In hindsight, many wish they had started the process sooner, given the transparency of the experience and how happy they are with where they ended up,” added Julie Fox, Market Head, UBS Wealth Management, Northeast market.

To learn more about the UBS Financial Advisor recruiting process or to apply for a UBS Financial Advisor role, submit your contact information to be connected with a Field Leader. 

You might find these articles of interest.