Andreas Hoefert, UBS Group AG’s chief economist for wealth management and the chief investment officer for Europe, has died, the bank said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. He was 48. “We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Andreas Hoefert,� the bank said. “He was a highly respected and well-liked member of our firm.� Hoefert, a Swiss national, had been with UBS since 1999, starting as a senior economist at Group Economic Research, according to a CV on the bank’s website. From 2000 to 2002, he was responsible for Swiss economic research at UBS Warburg, now the investment bank. In July 2002, Hoefert joined UBS Wealth Management Research as head of economic research. From 2004 to 2006 he held the position of head of global investment recommendations. In 2006 he relocated to UBS Financial Services Inc. in New York, where he acted as chief global economist and deputy head of UBS WMR Americas until March 2009. From 2009 until 2012 he led the wealth management research office before focusing more on his role as UBS Chief Economist/CIO Europe. Before joining UBS, Hoefert worked as a researcher and economic forecaster for four years at the Swiss Center of Business Cycle Research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

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