UBS has hired financial advisor Brian Zalewski to join its Americas wealth management office in Chicago, in a sign the bank is strengthening client-facing staff amid job cuts.

Zalewski steps in from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and had also previously worked at Citigroup. His background includes $1.1 million in production and $110 million in assets. He reports directly to Geoffrey Centner, the branch manager.

The announcement comes just a few days after the Swiss bank announced it would slash its staff numbers by 3,500 worldwide, as part of cost reduction initiatives. The bank is accompanied by many of its peers in making significant job cuts at the moment.

Its US wealth management business is also being affected by the wider upheaval at the Swiss firm, which is currently being hit by the strength of the Swiss franc. An overall 10 per cent of the job reductions - which will come from attrition and redundancies - will hit Wealth Management Americas.

However, it is reputedly trying to protect advisors from the cuts, and this latest hire follows a string of similar ones at the WMA business.

UBS also said recently it would maintain a "significant presence" in Connecticut, where its US headquarters are located, after a review of its office space. The review encompassed the Swiss firm's operations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and particularly focused on investment banking-related activities.

"Given today’s uncertain economic conditions, we need to maintain maximum flexibility to plan and manage for the future. We have therefore decided that for the time being we will maintain a substantial presence in Connecticut in addition to our existing locations in New York City (1285 Avenue of the Americas, 299 Park Avenue) and on the New Jersey waterfront," the bank said.

It did not specify a number of employees that will be moved as a result of the review.