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Juerg Zeltner is taking a decidedly un-Swiss pace to expand Luxembourg's KBL into Switzerland. What does UBS' former top private banker backing up his plans with?

KBL's purchase of Swiss-based Bank am Bellevue, confirmed on Tuesday, puts Juerg Zeltner, the CEO of the Luxembourg wealth manager, on track to begin rolling out its plans in Switzerland. Zeltner, who spent the entirety of his 30-plus-year career at UBS, wants to rapidly expand KBL, which belongs to Qatar's ruling al-Thani family.

Zeltner has moved at a dizzying pace since May when he unveiled his stake in KBL. The wealth veteran stands to gain a maximum of just 1.7 billion Swiss francs ($1.7 billion) in assets from Bellevue – if clients agree to move as well. The meager sum is hardly enough to jumpstart KBL's fortunes in Switzerland, home of many of the world's richest and still the largest money haven in the world. 

Tradition vs Youth

Switzerland remains «overbanked» and strongly dominated by giants like UBS and Credit Suisse as well as traditional houses like Pictet, Julius Baer, and Lombard Odier. The rich Swiss history of more than 200 years in wealth management is what foreign clients are actually signing up for when they open an account in Geneva, Zurich, or Basel.

KBL is just 60 years old – and didn't make it past the 3.3 billion francs in assets mark when it shut up shop in the alpine nation in 2015. Traditional private banking is also struggling with the recipe for a successful client relationship; the industry is realizing that products and investment expertise are just as important – as well as highly-personalized services and products for the ultra-rich.

Private Banker Tropes

KBL has a long road ahead: the firm, which has ensconced top executive Jakob Stott in prime real estate on Zurich's prestigious shopping and banking mile Bahnhofstrasse, has done little to distinguish itself as a manager of assets. Instead, Zeltner deployed well-worn platitudes to prise KBL.

«We’re eager to introduce our unique approach – as an advice-led organization that cuts through complexity and focuses on client interests – to one of the world’s most important wealth management markets,» he said on Monday.

What does it mean – and doesn't every wealth manager talk up its advice-based approach for the sole purpose of serving its clients? Zeltner knows he will have to do better – deliver specifics – to truly distinguish KBL.

Secretive Swiss Longevity

Zeltner, who wants to build a «Pictet»-style of white-glove, partner-led private bank, needs a credible asset management arm for products. But Pictet's asset management arm grew literally over decades – it now overshadows the wealth side in profits, as underscored by its most recent partner shuffle.