New Julius Baer CEO Philipp Rickenbacher is thinning the C-suite. The move leads to the exit of the Swiss wealth manager's domestic boss.
Julius Baer is cutting its top management ranks by more than one-third under new CEO Philipp Rickenbacher (pictured below), the Swiss bank said in a statement on Thursday. Swiss wealth head Gian Rossi will leave the private bank as a result of the move.
The move is the consultant-turned CEO's first stamp of Julius Baer, and serves to dramatically simplify its set-up. The bank said the move will lead to faster decision-making: Instead of two parallel sets of management for holding and bank, the two bodies will be identical.
From January 1, Rickenbacher will oversee the top management of Julius Baer Group and Bank Julius Baer & Co. with the following executives:
- Yves Robert-Charrue, head of Switzerland, Europe, Middle East, and Africa
- Jimmy Lee Kong Eng, Asia-Pacific CEO
- Beatriz Sanchez, head of Americas
- Nic Dreckmann, operating chief and head of intermediaries
- Nicolas de Skowronski, investment and wealth management solutions
- Yves Bonzon, investment chief
- Dieter Enkelmann, finance chief
- Oliver Bartholet, chief risk officer
As a result of the revamp, five executives including Rossi – Larissa Alghisi, Christoph Hiestand, Rémy Bersier, Luigi Vignola – will leave top management. Bersier, who is 63, will remain with the bank advising on ultra-rich clients and also continue to oversee Julius Baer's activities in Monaco. Rossi, a 13-year veteran of Julius Baer, will leave at year-end.
CFO Strengthened
Alghisi, the bank's top marketing, branding, and communications executive, and Hiestand, will still report to CEO Rickenbacher – meaning the shuffle will have little effect on them. Vignola, who runs Julius Baer's markets division, will report to finance chief Enkelmann, as will treasury and credit management.
«The bundling of expertise in and access to capital markets will enhance the development of attractive financing solutions for Julius Baer’s clients, while ensuring a more inclusive management of its financial resources,» Julius Baer said of the markets move.
