About Us

Jim began working in the financial services industry in 1976 as a financial advisor at a regional investment firm in Portland, Maine. In 1984, he received his first formal leadership role when he was hired as the Producing Branch Manager in Portland at PaineWebber. After that, he held the following leadership positions at PaineWebber: Complex Manager for Maine and New Hampshire, Regional Director of the New England region, and then in 2000, he became the Central Division Manager of UBS after its acquisition of PaineWebber. Next he became the Head of the Western Division, and ultimately at UBS, Jim held the positions of Co-Head of the Wealth Management Advisor Group, and Vice Chairman of Wealth Management US.

Through these experiences he developed a singular understanding of how managers can apply leadership to their complicated jobs and produce great results in the process. In 2010, Jim founded James M Pierce LLC and now focuses solely on leadership coaching in the wealth management industry.

Over the course of Jim’s career, he ran numerous leadership training sessions for executives in the US and Switzerland at both PaineWebber and UBS. He frequently spoke on applying leadership in the workplace to various groups at UBS, including branch management, Legal & Compliance, and cross-disciplinary groups of high achievers.

Jim has served in leadership positions on the boards of numerous community and civic organizations throughout his career. Jim and his wife Polly live in Cumberland Foreside, Maine, and have four adult children. He enjoys golf, the Boston Red Sox, and opera.