BofA's Forbes New Vice Chair At UBS Group Americas

A week after losing two high-ranking investment bankers in the Americas, UBS has landed a rainmaker from Bank of America.

Jim Forbes, a long-term health-care investment banker and most recently head of BofA's Global Principal Investments group, will become vice chairman, UBS Group Americas, according to an internal memo from UBS's Bob McCann, head of Americas, and Carsten Kengeter, CEO of the Investment bank.

Forbes oversaw what is BofA private-equity unit, which has been de-emphasized by the bank. In the past year, he was involved in the transaction that saw BofA sell its stake in hospital operator HCA, in which the bank earned a total return of three-times the amount Merrill Lynch put in during a 2006 buyout.

Forbes also was involved in the sale of the bank's stake in China Construction Bank. BofA sold out of the stake in two parts over the past year, providing the bank with a significant capital boost when investors were anxious to see it strengthen. CEO Brian Moynihan has said that BofA will shed its investments in international businesses that are not core to helping customers.

A spokesman for Bank of America confirmed Forbes has left the bank.

With the move, Forbes reunites with McCann, a former head of Merrill's brokerage force, who took on the leadership role in the Americas at UBS. McCann recently named five executives to a new leadership group in charge of helping him more closely integrate the firm's three business lines and boost market share in the region.

Last week, UBS's Aryeh Bourkoff, head of investment banking for the Americas, and Ehren Stenzler, co-head of U.S. mergers and acquisitions at UBS, both left to possibly team up in a new venture.

The UBS memo touts Forbes joining as "an endorsement that UBS is executing on this strategy and strengthening our ability to compete and win in the Americas region."

The memo said he will "spend the majority of his time calling on our key clients in healthcare and financial sponsors as well as broadly supporting our coverage teams on targeted accounts across the investment banking division and the region."

This story first appeared on WSJ.com