Fraser became the global head of UBS’s investment arm in January 2002, taking over from Peter Wuffli, who moved up to be president of UBS Group. Fraser had been CEO of Asia-Pacific for the funds arm and was marked out for higher things when he was appointed president and COO.
From there, Fraser says the move up to global head wasn’t too big a step. “I was deputy CEO when I was in Asia-Pac,” he explains. Fraser expects the bigger challenge will be the restructuring of the firm this year.
In February the investment division was reorganized into three platforms sharing a single infrastructure. One unit is for traditional asset management, one for alternative investments and one for real estate. An area of focus will be the real-estate business that UBS is building up. “We’re working to fill in the gaps within Europe,” says Fraser.
Fraser expects the hedge fund part of the business, led by its O’Connor brand, to fill out even more this year, although he admits that it may have been pushed to grow too rapidly. “Like most hedge funds, part of O’Connor had a tough year last year,” he says. The weakness of the equity markets has accelerated interest in hedge funds and, says Fraser: “It has exposed some broader weaknesses in the asset management business as a whole.”
Fraser is excited about UBS group’s rebranding, launched on April 7. “It was to be April 1 but we changed it because of April Fools’ Day,” he says. This followed the rebranding of UBSGAM last year when the Phillips & Drew and Brinson names were all absorbed under the UBS umbrella. Fraser boasts that UBSGAM “didn’t use any rebranding professionals” and that the budget for his group’s facelift was only $325,000.
A 2am person Fraser began his professional career as a graduate trainee at the Australian Treasury in 1973. In 1985 he moved to Washington DC to work as economic minister at the Australian Embassy.
Like any Australian he enjoys a good party. He tells of the “10pm and 2am people” attending what he describes as the tremendous parties in Washington during the Reagan era. Fraser was firmly in the second camp of those who liked to stay up late.
He remembers one particular snowy evening when Allan Walters, economic adviser to UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and then in his mid-60s, showed up with a 28-year-old woman on his arm and some duty-free liquor.
Fraser’s generosity extends beyond hosting the occasional party. One year he even inadvertently gave one of the security guards in his London apartment building a Christmas present.
Fraser’s flat at Palace Gate overlooks Kensington Palace Gardens and was previously owned by James Bond star Roger Moore. In the wake of September 11, it was assessed by UBS security who found that the guards on watch at night were the oldest and most vulnerable staff. As a result, the old nightwatch has since been put on day shifts and at night the building is patrolled by former military men. Fraser says an old, Irish security guard thanked him for relieving him from working the nightshift, saying it was an unexpected present.
Fraser refers to the late 1990s as the dark years for UBS’s fund management operation, which suffered poor performance before the departures of Gary Brinson and Tony Dye, the investment chiefs in Chicago and London respectively. Fraser says he was ready to quit Asia-Pacific but then “Peter Wuffli came along and did a great job with a disillusioned company”.
Like many Australians he has found himself in London, though he spends much of his time travelling to UBS’s various investment centres. “I landed in London – but we don’t have any headquarters,” he says with all the diplomacy of a seasoned political player. “London, Zurich, Tokyo, Chicago and New York are all key centres.”
