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Influential Private Bankers

Naturally curious and approachable, he is unlikely to face the type of palace revolt which toppled Barend Fruithof in Switzerland in 2016. Rickenbacher has his «copains,» as one associate puts it, but is politically savvy enough to curry favor with his detractors. He is a regular at Interbourse, an annual ski competition for bankers. 

The father of a teenage son and daughter, Rickenbacher has told associates that Julius Baer won’t radically shift its growth strategy, but he clearly has plans. He is expected to make «wealth architecture» an anchor of his strategy.

The buzzword refers to chaperoning clients more extensively (and empathically) through the stages of their life, not just their investment horizon. Rickenbacher is expected to consistently push the idea more forcefully with his private bankers, leaning on experience with technology during his advisory years.

Technology Buff

A tech buff who as a teenager assembled his own gaming computer from components, Rickenbacher was the driving force behind a tool which delivers investment ideas to private bankers, dubbed DIAS (or digital investment advisory suite). The idea is to reclaim «face time» for advisers by pre-vetting and automating compliance questions, for example.

Besides client proximity – another buzzword Rickenbacher will have to flesh out quickly – the new CEO is expected to roll out more initiatives which make private bankers more accountable for their business risks and spending. He will also be pressed to seek growth, after former CEO Hodler spent much of this nearly two years at the helm grappling with the fallout of a heady ten-year expansion.

Passionate Skiier

Far from the grilling he received from Julius Baer’s dealers when he arrived as the outsider from McKinsey in 2004, Rickenbacher now exudes Julius Baer pedigree. He refers to the bank in the familiar «our Baer» popular with the old-guard who remember the family-owner era.

Question marks hang over the bank’s revamp of its troubled Latin American activities. Hodler, who was risk boss under Collardi, has previously suggested that Rickenbacher will be able to hit the ground running, free of the debris.

«Philipp doesn’t have a legacy, and he’s independent – he will be able to break with tradition a lot more easily,» a person close to the new CEO said.