The Swiss private bank’s hiring spree has led to rampant speculation that Pictet will shell out big-time for private bankers. Not so fast, finews.com has learned.
Geneva-based Pictet is adopting a new, juicier pay model to entice bankers in its bid to hire several hundred more wealth managers, «Bloomberg» reported on Monday. The news is credible: under private banking co-head Boris Collardi, Pictet has already pinched at least 18 private bankers from his former house, Julius Baer.
The only problem? It doesn't appear to be true: «Following various recent reports in the media, Pictet wealth management wishes to confirm that it does not, and has no plans to, offer a compensation model to new hires that differs in any respect from the model applying to existing employees», a spokesman for the Swiss private bank told finews.com on Tuesday. «New employees are recruited on the same model as existing employees.»
The unusual public comment is emblematic of how hot the rumor mill over Pictet's hiring spree is. At Julius Baer, Collardi was known for paying his best bankers well. To be sure, Pictet bankers won't starve, but it doesn't appear to be rolling out a monetary red carpet especially for the new recruits either.
Middle East Raid
Next year, Pictet is set to go head-to-head with Collardi's former bank when it moves into the former offices of Bank Leu, one of the city’s oldest banking house, on Zurich's ritzy Bahnhofstrasse. Pictet's insistence that it is too refined to poach from its rivals stands in stark contrast with the massive Middle East raid late last year as well as plans to recruit hundreds of private bankers.
«Bloomberg» had reported that Pictet is looking to more closely link up pay with the performance of its private bankers as part of its growth strategy. Collardi defected to Pictet as a partner partner last summer, after nine years running Julius Baer. His star power has dragged the reserved wealth manager into the limelight and set up a conflict of cultures.
