Page 1 of 2

The new CEO of Julius Baer needs a plan for the Swiss wealth manager’s next decade after a boom period. Insiders are bracing for a flurry of ideas and changes from the quick-thinking former consultant, finews.com learned.

Philipp Rickenbacher was 33 when he was briskly introduced on Julius Baer’s trading floor in 2004 as «Philipp who’ll be doing business development. He comes from McKinsey.» Fifteen years later, he beat internal candidates including Yves Robert-Charrue as well as Credit Suisse star Iqbal Khan for the top job at Switzerland’s third-largest listed wealth manager, with a market capitalization of 8.4 billion Swiss franc ($8.6 billion).

The former consultant acknowledged to finews.com that he isn’t well-known to shareholders. He spent the bulk of the past nine years in obscure but influential roles, such as head of structured products. While private banking watchers have been quick to dismiss him as a «more of the same»-style CEO, Rickenbacher won over Julius Baer’s board with the promise of disruption for the 129-year-old private bank.

Dreary Backdrop

He takes over against the dreary backdrop: Julius Baer's gross margin has tanked by ten basis points in the last five years, and its cost-income ratio has edged higher in each of the past four. Earlier this year, the wealth manager flagged tougher bonus policies and cut jobs.

Julius Baer, at 412 billion francs in assets, is battling for hegemony as Switzerland’s largest independent wealth manager (after UBS and Credit Suisse). Pictet is viewed as the gold standard, and at 496 billion francs in assets, is bigger than its Zurich rival thanks to an extensive money management arm. The Genevan firm is embarking on an aggressive growth push under new partner (and former Julius Baer CEO) Boris Collardi.

Rickenbacher’s detractors criticize that he didn’t rise up through Julius Baer’s influential 1,490-strong cadre of private bankers. Equally, he has nothing of the showman qualities of Collardi: Rickenbacher often zips to work or around Zurich on his scooter, for example. 

Lack of Client Experience?

The new CEO is a whirlwind of ideas, and prefers facts over schmoozing, according to descriptions from several people who have worked with him. Julius Baer is at pains to highlight that the 48-year-old isn’t a novice with clients: he consulted for ultra-rich ones in particular, in the two years he spent running advisory solutions.

His predecessor, Bernhard Hodler, was savvy to move him into the intermediaries and custody job in January – by far Rickenbacher’s most intensive role dealing with clients. This year, he revealed that he isn’t afraid to make waves: Rickenbacher quickly put the kibosh on «wine and dine» events and more clearly defined segments in the Swiss unit.