UBS (Italia), the Italian wealth management arm of Switzerland's largest bank UBS, has hired a new chief executive officer from domestic player Intesa SanPaolo.

Fabio Innocenzi will start as CEO on 1 November 2011. Innocenzi will succeed Ferruccio Ferri who will remain in a senior management position as well as a member of the Board of Directors of UBS (Italia), and as chairman of subsidiary UBS Fiduciaria, said the bank in a statement. 

Fifty-year old Innocenzi was previously head of the North-East Italy division of Italian banking group Intesa SanPaolo and CEO of Cassa di Risparmio del Veneto, a subsidiary.

He joined Intesa SanPaolo in 2009 after serving as CEO of Italian mutual lender Banco Popolare and as a member of the executive committee of the Italian banking Association, from 2002 to 2008.

Before this, he was head of the asset management unit of Italian bank Unicredit and chief of Pioneer Investments, as well as the vice chairman of the Italian Association of the Asset Managers.

Innocenzi will join the board of directors of UBS’ Italian wealth business, which is chaired by Alain Robert, and the executive committee of UBS Wealth Management Europe, chaired by Jakob Stott.

UBS in Italy has a network of 9 offices in Northern and Central Italy, covering around 80 per cent of the Italian wealth, said the bank.