UBS drops diversity targets from annual report, emphasises meritocracy

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS scrapped references to establishing women in management roles and hiring employees from ethnic minority backgrounds from its 2024 annual report, instead focusing on meritocracy.

A number of U.S. companies have been scaling back diversity, equity and inclusion programs since U.S. President Donald Trump declared some elements of DEI illegal and threatened possible investigations into firms that practice it.

Advocates say DEI programs are not exclusionary, but needed to redress longstanding bias, inequity and discrimination. Detractors counter that people should be hired on merit without taking into consideration gender or race.

UBS, which is eager to expand in the United States, said in its previous annual report that it aspired to staff 30% of worldwide roles at director level and above with women by 2025.

It also aimed to hire more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to account for 18.8% of U.S. financial and client advisors by 2025 from 12.2% in 2023.

The diversity targets, along with an update on last year's progress, were not included in UBS's latest report.

"We are committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace based on meritocracy," the report, released on Monday, said.

A UBS spokesperson said the bank had a workforce with a variety of skills, experiences and backgrounds.

"We aim to hire and retain the best people for the right roles...We will continue to recruit, develop and promote a diverse employee base with meritocracy at the forefront of any decision we make," the spokesperson said.

The bank also adjusted its climate plans, citing the integration of Credit Suisse, which it acquired in 2023.

UBS withdrew an asset management division target to align a fifth of its total assets with net zero by 2030 and extended a deadline to minimise the group's net greenhouse gas emissions by ten years, to 2035.

(Reporting by Ariane Luthi and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)