Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam has taken along quite a few of his colleagues from former jobs since he was put in charge of the bank. One such acquaintance his employer could do well with is a South-African. She is currently enjoying great success at a German rival.
«Bloomberg» dubbed her the '$2 trillion woman', an elegantly dressed 48-year-old executive who is currently in charge of asset management at Allianz. Jackie Hunt, the banker in question, in June 2016 took charge of Pimco, after the investment management firm ran into trouble following the departure of bond king Bill Gross.
Hunt proved to be up to the task. At the end of last year, Pimco reported the first net inflow of money since 2013. The South African could easily claim this success as her's, but prefers to heap praise on her team.
One of Many Admirers
One of the many admirers of hers is a man struggling to achieve a turnaround of his own: Tidjane Thiam (pictured below) told «Bloomberg»: «I am a fan. It's a combination of intellect, determination, and courage to do difficult things.»
Thiam's admiration isn't a recent one. He was Hunt's boss at Aviva, the U.K.-based insurer. And at Prudential, the last of Thiam's employers before Credit Suisse (CS), Hunt managed the business in the U.K. and continental Europe.
Intellect, Determination, Courage
When Thiam left for CS in 2015, Hunt was close to getting the top job at Pru herself. But the company instead opted to appoint Mike Wells. Hunt left and joined Allianz in Munich.
Intellect, determination and courage to do difficult things: qualities that are in demand at CS. The bank will present its figures for last year on February 14 and analysts expect it to post a billion-franc-loss.
Which raises the question: shouldn't the bank try to get Hunt? After all, Thiam hasn't been shy about hiring former colleagues.
Bouée, Goerke, Murray...
For instance Pierre-Olivier Bouée, the chief operating officer. He used to work for McKinsey in Paris and later for Aviva and Prudential. Or Peter Goerke, in charge of human resources, communications and branding. The Swiss citizen used to do the same at the Pru.
Or John Murray, Thiam's head of communications at Prudential. He may not be a member of CS' executive management committee, but is enormously influential behind the scenes, and reports directly to Thiam. They all know Hunt, incidentally.
What Matters Is the Result
The turnaround manager would complement the three in the sense that the insurance expert is having great success at an asset manager. The asset management unit at CS is being managed by Eric Varvel, who was already in charge of the division under ex-CEO Brady Dougan. The bank harbors big plans for its asset management.
Hunt, a trained accountant, is versatile. She says that in finance, it doesn't matter that much in which segment of the industry you're active in, but much more what the company's goals are: «Customers don’t care about the product; they care about the outcome.»
