UBS needs the heft that Ermotti brings and Hamers lacks

The timing was brutally swift, but UBS Group AG’s decision to replace its chief executive shouldn’t be a great shock.

Ralph Hamers, a retail and commercial banker who liked to spend big on digital development and talk in the jargon of consultants, already faced doubts that he was the right leader for UBS before it landed the biggest bank takeover in more than a decade.