Experience

Makes all the difference

Catherine Lapadula

Managing Director

Market Executive

In February of 2023, Catherine was appointed Market Executive of the newest International Market in Florida, now the largest International Market in the Americas for UBS. Prior to that, she was the Market Head of UBSi New York for 16 years where she grew the market tenfold by focusing almost exclusively on the Private Wealth Sector in Latin America, Europe and Asia. She is among one of the longest standing managers in the international arena with over 31 years' experience in Wealth Management, 17 with UBS.

Catherine brings a unique blend of cross border knowledge, experience and advocacy for Financial Advisors in her role. She is distinct in having experience on both the traditional brokerage platform as well as the Private Bank platform. Subsequent to joining UBS Int'l, she worked at Citigroup Int'l Private Bank for over 12 years in the LatAm Wealth Management Division, in various management and sales positions in New York, Miami and Hong Kong.

In 2021 she was awarded the prestigious Ed Connolly Award at UBS. She was named in the premier UBS Elevate program which recognizes the top 1% globally in Wealth Management. She was awarded the Power women 2021 Award for Leadership in the Financial Industry (a first for a US woman), the Outstanding Individual of the Year Award for the Citywealth Magic Circle Awards 2022 and has been recognized as one of the Top 20 Offshore Leaders in 2022 by Citywire Magazine.  Catherine has been the recipient of awards such as "Market Head of the Year”, UBS Diversity Award in both 2020 and 2021, has been voted among "Top Ten Branch Managers" on Wall Street Magazine for 2 consecutive years,Top 100 Branch Managers for 5 years running and has served in the UBS Leadership Advisory Council for 6 Years running. She supports various charities such as the Tri-State Diversity Board and No Greater Sacrifice. She is the Ambassador for the Global Visionary’s Perkins School for the Blind and the Executive Sponsor of the UBS US Ability Network.

Registered States:
  • CA
  • CT
  • FL
  • MA
  • NJ
  • NY
  • UT
787 Seventh Avenue
787 Tower
New York, NY 10019

Email Me

catherine.lapadula@ubs.com
Catherine Lapadula
787 Seventh Avenue,New York,NY,10019

Nicolas Bergengruen

Managing Director

Market Director

Nicolas Bergengruen (MD) joined UBS in 2005 and is Miami International Market Director for UBS FS International since 2006. Based in Miami this Location is also responsible for an offshore Branch in Montevideo (Uruguay) of which he also acts as its General Manager.

As Location Head he manages the Advisors and offices which book their international wealth management business across the brokerage and private banking platforms with a focus on catering to High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth clients located in Latin America.

Mr. Bergengruen is also a member of the Board of Directors of UBS Financial Services (Uruguay) S.R.L. and UBS Southern Cone Lead Market Head. He also served until 3 years ago as a member of UBS Leadership Advisory Committee.

Prior to joining UBS, Mr. Bergengruen served in various positions in Dresdner Bank AG, Germany (1994 – 2005) in a number of different roles and locations such as Chile, Germany, Mexico and the US. 

Fluent in Spanish, English and German, he holds a BA/CPA degree from Universidad de la Republica del Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay and an MBA from Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago, Chile.

100 SE 2nd Street
Suite 2500
Miami, FL 33131

Email Me

Nicholas.bergengruen@ubs.com
Nicolas Bergengruen
100 SE 2nd Street,Miami,FL,33131,100 SE 2nd Street,Miami,FL,33131

Jesus Valencia

Executive Director

Market Director

Jesus is the Market Director of the Coral Gables branch in the Florida International Market. Jesus has over 28 years of experience in the international wealth management business.  He has led and supervised teams in the traditional brokerage platform and in the private banking platform. He started his career in Merrill Lynch Latin America Division where he rose through the ranks eventually becoming the manager of the New York International Complex.  He subsequently joined Santander International Private Bank as the Market Leader for Venezuela leading a global team of bankers working out of NY, Miami and Geneva. A few years later Jesus was called back to the broker dealer model to lead a branch in the growing Latin America Division in Wells Fargo Advisors.  He joined the UBS International Division in March of 2021 as the Assistant Market Head for Coral Gables and was promoted to Market Director in April 2023. He majored in economics is married and has three sons.

Registered States:
  • FL
  • NC
550 Biltmore Way
Coral Gables, FL 33134

Email Me

jesus.valencia@ubs.com
Jesus Valencia
550 Biltmore Way,Coral Gables,FL,33134

Alejandro Plevak

Executive Director

Market Director

Registered States:
  • CA
  • FL
Ruta 8, KM 17,500
Edificio @1, Loc. 307
Montevideo, 91600

Email Me

alejandro.plevak@ubs.com
Alejandro Plevak
Ruta 8, KM 17,500,Montevideo,,91600

Claudia Koenig

Executive Director

Associate Market Executive

Claudia Koenig is the Associate Market Executive for the Florida International Market and has over 34 years of experience in the financial services industry.  Claudia joined the Florida International market in 2019 following leading Business Management for the International Division of WMUS where she led strategic projects including the creation of the Uruguay Advisory Office. Prior to working in Wealth Management, Claudia was COO for UBS Trustees (Bahamas) and Controller for different UBS business units and entities and was based in New York and Zurich.

Claudia holds several designations and licenses including the Series 7,66, 9,10, 3 and 27 securities licenses,

Claudia graduated from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland with a degree in Finance & Accounting.

Registered States:
  • FL
  • NY
100 SE 2nd Street
Suite 2500
Miami, FL 33131

Email Me

claudia.koenig@ubs.com
Claudia Koenig
100 SE 2nd Street,Miami,FL,33131

Ramon Prats

First Vice President–Wealth Management

Sales Manager WMAG

Ramon Prats is the Sales Manager for the UBS International Florida Market and has more than 19 years’ experience in Wealth Management with UBS in various roles and locations. He began his career in Banco Popular of Puerto Rico where he worked in the Investment Bank and treasury division for 2 years. Following that, he moved to UBS in Puerto Rico where he joined the Capital Markets division and worked his way up to achieving the position of head trader. He moved to Miami where he served as the Sales Manager for the UBS AG Private Bank Division serving clients in Latin America and Europe . He later was promoted to Sales Manager of the entire UBS International Market covering all South Florida. He holds a major in Finance from Villanova University and holds the series 7, 55, 9, 10, and 66.

Registered States:
  • AK
  • AL
  • AR
  • AZ
  • CA
  • CO
  • CT
  • DC
  • DE
  • FL
  • GA
  • HI
  • IA
  • ID
  • IL
  • IN
  • KS
  • KY
  • LA
  • MA
  • MD
  • ME
  • MI
  • MN
  • MO
  • MS
  • MT
  • NC
  • ND
  • NE
  • NH
  • NJ
  • NM
  • NV
  • NY
  • OH
  • OK
  • OR
  • PA
  • PR
  • RI
  • SC
  • SD
  • TN
  • TX
  • UT
  • VA
  • VI
  • VT
  • WA
  • WI
  • WV
  • WY
100 SE 2nd Street
Suite 2500
Miami, FL 33131

Email Me

ramon.prats@ubs.com
Ramon Prats
100 SE 2nd Street,Miami,FL,33131

Clara L. Alicea

Director

Market Administrative Officer

Clara Alicea is the Market Administrative Officer of the Florida International Market, where she is responsible for leading the administrative management team for the Wealth Management business.  Clara has spent the past 20-years of her career at UBS Financial Services serving various roles in client service, Supervision, Risk Management and Administrative and Operations Management in different areas including the Puerto Rico Trading Desk and the UBS Trust Company of Puerto Rico. 

Her responsibilities include the oversight of the Market's supervision, human resources, and administrative functions.  She is also responsible for the leadership and development of the administrative team and support staff; coaching and ensuring the day-to-day operations of the San Juan business runs effectively and efficiently.Clara graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with Bachelor of Science in Finance.  She maintains her Series 6, 7, 9, 10, 66, 24 and 53 securities licenses as well as life, annuities, accident, and health insurance licenses in Puerto Rico.  Clara was born in San Juan and currently resides in Miami.  In her free time, Clara enjoys exercising, Formula 1, and spending time with family and friends.

Registered States:
  • FL
  • MA
  • NJ
  • NY
  • PR
550 Biltmore Way
Coral Gables, FL 33134

Email Me

clara.alicea@ubs.com
Clara L. Alicea
550 Biltmore Way,Coral Gables,FL,33134