UBS hires Morgan Stanley bankers to lead U.S. outsourced trading drive

ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS has hired two bankers from Morgan Stanley to help build its trading services for hedge funds and asset managers in the United Sates, according to a memo seen by Reuters and confirmed by a spokesperson for the Swiss bank.

The new recruitments are a part of a broader initiative within the bank to elevate its so-called execution hub, allowing hedge funds and asset managers to outsource their trading to the lender.

Jon Slavin, previously Global Head of Equity Trading at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, has been appointed UBS's Head of Execution Hub, Americas. Sherri Cohen, who previously headed global emerging markets at Morgan Stanley's investment management arm and led infrastructure development for the unit's trading systems, has been named to lead business development of the execution hub in the United States.

"In this role, Jon will be responsible for setting up and running our U.S. trading team and driving our regional client strategy," Mark Goodman, global head of the bank's execution hub, told staff in a memo.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)