UBS Sets Up Diversity Focused Investment Team

UBS has created a new unit dedicated to diversity and inclusion. Switzerland’s largest bank has created a new wealth management unit aimed at mobilizing client funds to offer investments that promote equality and expand outcomes for underrepresented or marginalized groups, according to a report.

Karen Sunderam will lead the group from New York. According to her LinkedIn profile, she has been with UBS for nearly five years and has been the head of inclusive investing solutions since May last year.

By responding to client requests for investment options that reflect personal values and are aimed at social good, UBS will offer clients opportunities to channel their money to firms at least partly owned by minorities. This also includes products led by portfolio managers who self-identify as racial or ethnic minorities, women, veterans, disabled and LGBTQ, «Bloomberg» reported.

Under CEO Ralph Hamers, UBS has dedicated itself to the «purpose» of reinventing investing and connecting people for a better world. Head of sustainability Michael Baldinger was tasked in May 2021 with weaving these threads across the group and advancing diversity.