The acquisition of Merrill Lynch in Germany has improved Julius Baer’s standing in Europe’s biggest economy. Even though its profitability has yet to improve, the bank is busy hiring new staff.
Julius Baer’s latest addition to its team is called Tobias Wehle and joins the bank’s Europe division as a senior portfolio manager, «Private Banking Magazin» reported.
Wehle, a former Berenberg Bank employee, is the sixth banker to join Julius Baer in Germany in short succession and the third addition to the portfolio management team of Lutz Welge.
Welge recently hired Ralf Mielke from J. Safra Sarasin and Jens Wissel from Hauck & Aufhaeuser.
Additional Relationship Managers
The bank also strengthened its relationship manager team led by Heiko Schlag. Thorsten Kubeil joined from Hauck & Aufhaeuser and caters for clients in Frankfurt, while Alexander Schmidt joined to advise customers in the north of the country. He used to work for Bankhaus Hallbaum, which recently was integrated into M.M. Warburg in Hamburg.
Schmidt is going to manage wealthy private clients in Hanover and Lower Saxony. He will work closely with Andreas Wagner, who will take care of the Hamburg region. Former J. Safra Sarasin banker Wagner joined in April.
Swiss Bank With Most German Branches
Julius Baer today is the Swiss bank with the most branches in Germany. It has offices in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, Mannheim, Kiel, Wuerzburg and Dusseldorf. UBS by contrast reduced the number of branches to six from 14 due to the costs of maintaining such a network.
Julius Baer in Germany applies a strategy of boosting organic growth that mirrors the one of its Swiss owner. The private bank continuously invests in new personnel and thus additional business. It was also able to profit from the closure of the private-banking business of its rival, J. Safra Sarasin in Germany.
Merrill Lynch Acquisition as Key
Julius Baer’s success in Germany owes a lot to the acquisition of Merrill Lynch Germany and the bank has been profitable since. But it hasn’t been enough yet to make the European bank profitable too.
Julius Baer Europe has post losses in double digits in 2014 and 2015, first because of integration costs and later because of a patchy implementation of a new IT system. Julius Baer in Frankfurt manages its German business but also the portfolios of European Union customers.
