Banking with rich entrepreneurs and company bosses is one of the remaining growth opportunities for the Swiss finance industry. Little surprise then that competition has increased – with Credit Suisse displaying a particularly ravenous appetite for the business.
The plan presented by Credit Suisse (CS) in March to develop its relationship with entrepreneurs and company chiefs was met by skepticism because it had tried to lure that particular segment before, with limited success.
Under the guidance of Thomas Gottstein, the CS Switzerland boss, and Andreas Arni as head entrepreneurs and executives (E&E), the project now seems to gather pace though. This year so far, the bank has hired no less than 30 experienced bankers for the team in Switzerland.
Target in Sight
At that rate, it will soon reach its target of 100 specialized relationship managers for E&E. And CS has just landed another big name, information obtained by finews.ch shows.
Guillaume Jacquemoud (pictured left) has agreed to join Credit Suisse together with his Geneva-based team – after years at UBS, which has reported the move internally. At the cross-town rival of CS, Jacquemoud was head of the small-and-medium-sized companies unit in the Geneva region. CS refused to comment the appointment, but sources said that Jacquemoud will report to Jan de Vries in his new role at the bank.
From UBS to CS
The move for Jacquemoud shows both that CS means business with E&E and that it managed to lure most of its new hires from UBS. Arni himself in June joined CS – from UBS.
And he wasn't alone in doing so: Yusuf Savmaz, the new head of E&E in the Zurich region, also is a hire from UBS. And further regional managers as well.
Faithful Banking Clients
Acquiring new clients is tough in Switzerland, because most are firmly tied to their bank – because of a mortgage, a pension plan or simply because their families have been banking with the same company for generations.
Attracting wealthy customers with a helping hand from the corporate business unit thus is one of the few remaining lucrative options to grow in Switzerland. A businessman or top manager at a company seems more prone to switch allegiance privately if he or she has had a positive experience with another bank in business life.
Based on this model and under the guidance of Gottstein, CS has focused its hiring strategy on those among its rivals with an own corporate business unit – UBS, the cantonal banks and some of the private banks. Thanks to the rapid buildup of personnel, CS has been able to expand the number of branches with an E&E desk at breakneck speed.
Demanding Customers
At the beginning of the year, CS had 11 such business points operational, today they number 17 and soon the bank will reach 20.
Banking with businessmen and top managers is a tough experience and relationship managers need specific skills not usually in demand in private banking. After all, business people have expert knowledge themselves and are a demanding populace.
Difficult Switch for Experienced Bankers
The relationship manager has to be able to meet their opposites on an equal footing and represent much more than a salesman of financial products normally does. This type of above-average customer adviser isn't that easily available though, even in the land of banks.
Many experienced private bankers have built their business and knowledge on the help of foreign clients in «optimizing» their tax bills and are hardly able to now simply turn around and adjust to the new circumstances.
Thus, with relationship managers of the right kind a scarce good, it is easy to understand why the banks in Switzerland fight hard to get the best.
