UBS CEO says market volatility is not over yet

ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS AG, the world's largest wealth manager, on Monday said the volatility that led to a shock $3.4 billion write down was not over yet and could last another six months as markets find an equilibrium.

"The critical time will be over the next six months," said Chief Executive Marcel Rohner in a conference call with journalists.

Turning to the positions that the group was forced to write down, Rohner said, "We feel comfortable in these positions at these levels. There will be some volatility but this can be managed and traded."

The group earlier on Monday said it would write down 4 billion Swiss francs ($3.42 billion) due to credit woes and reorganize management.

The write down, mostly from its fixed-income portfolio, will result in a third-quarter loss of 600-800 million Swiss francs, its first quarterly loss in nine years, making it one of the biggest casualties so far of turmoil in global credit markets.