Barend Fruithof, the former Credit Suisse and Julius Baer manager, has found a new challenge, where his early vocation as a farmer will come in handy.
Barend Fruithof will become chief executive officer at ASH Group (Aebi Schmidt Holding), a maker of special-purpose vehicles. Fruithof will replace Stefan Heiniger, who decided to leave the company after a year and a half, the company said in a statement.
ASH Group is majority-owned by Peter Spuhler, who also runs Stadler, a maker of trains and trams. Spuhler is known as a liberal exponent of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party and was a member of the Swiss parliament for years. ASH is a group of companies producing everything from snow plows to steep slope carriers for farming in the Alps and street-cleaning machines.
Farming Expertise
Fruithof, 50, originally trained as a farmer. He later acquired an Executive MBA at University of St. Gallen. Before joining the banking industry, Fruithof spent some time working on different farms.
As a bank manager, Fruithof worked for Raiffeisen Switzerland, Zuercher Kantonalbank and Credit Suisse, where he was regarded as a possible candidate to take over as head of the Swiss unit. He left the bank in 2015, taking the banking industry inn Switzerland by surprise.
Stint at Julius Baer
He joined Julius Baer last year as head of the Swiss business, but left after a few months due to disagreements with other top managers.
«We are delighted to win Barend Fruithof, who is a charismatic leader with a wide range of experience,» said Walter Vogel, chairman of ASH Group. «He is familiar with key aspects of our target markets and brings a high degree of financial knowledge.»
