One supplier sat in 30% of a UBS fund — First Brands' fall shut the funds down

UBS O'Connor, the private credit and commodities unit, ran 'Working Capital Opportunistic' funds that financed companies by buying their invoices. First Brands was a flagship relationship: a January 2023 case study pitched a 17% yield on 60-day investments linked to the auto parts supplier. When First Brands filed Chapter 11 in late September 2025, one O'Connor fund held roughly 30% of its portfolio in First Brands-linked exposure — 9.1% direct, via the supplier's own invoices, and 21.4% indirect, via invoices of its customers. Client exposure across UBS exceeded $500 million.

In October 2025 UBS told investors it would wind down the affected funds; by early November the shutdown had spread to a roughly $600 million 'High Grade' invoice fund with no First Brands exposure at all. UBS said no investment guidelines had been breached and CFO Todd Tuckner said the bank itself carried no balance-sheet risk, with about 70% of the affected fund expected to be monetized by end-2025. The collapse also clouded the sale of O'Connor to Cantor Fitzgerald, with reports that the buyer sought to renegotiate the terms.