Sergio Ermotti: Swiss Banker

Sergio Ermotti was born in Lugano, Switzerland on May 11, 1960. Early in life he wanted to be a ski instructor then decided to follow his father’s footstep and began his career as a young apprentice at the Corner Bank in Lugano. In order to do this he left school at the age of 15.

Sergio became a stockbroker at the Corner Bank after his apprenticeship. Later he was promoted to trading. Sergio has a diploma as a Swiss Federal Banking Expert and a degree in the Advance Management Program at Oxford University.

Sergio has solid banking experience having worked for Citibank and Merrill Lynch. In the latter company he served as co-Head of Global Equity Markets and as a member of the Executive Management Committee for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Sergio joined UniCredit in December 2005. He was Deputy Executive Officer of the company from 2007 to 2010.

Sergio was appointed Chairman and CEO of UBS’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa group and became member of the Group Executive Board in April 2011. After being appointed interim Group CEO of UBS starting September 24, 2011 he was given this post permanently on November 15, 2011.

Sergio has taken a big challenge in leading UBS which not only suffered during the 2008 crisis but also had a scandal in its investment unit. He has also executed painful job cuts. There are signs that Sergio’s initiatives are beginning to bear fruit.