New international wealth chief Philipp Wehle makes his first move at Credit Suisse to increase the number of private bankers covering its richest clients. Meanwhile, boss Tidjane Thiam is pressing the flesh to prevent exits.
Credit Suisse said it would «significantly expand» the business targeting these strategic clients who are mostly billionaires, according to a «Bloomberg» report which cited an internal memo. Unit head Philipp Wehle (pictured below) said he would hire more «strategic client partners» in the super-rich segment to kickstart growth.
The bank also restructured its hybrid digital offering, which targets those with up to $5 million in funds, into a unit called private banking international. Wehle is handing over the unit to Luxembourg boss Raffael Gasser, as finews.com reported exclusively.
CEO Courts «Flight Risks»
CEO Tidjane Thiam is reportedly devoting more face time to top private bankers in Brazil, the Middle East, and emerging Europe to discuss compensation and career prospects, according to the report. He is attempting to prevent defections following the exit of Wehle’s predecessor, Iqbal Khan, for UBS.
Credit Suisse has been on red-alert since Khan left for those at so-called flight risk, as finews.com reported last month. The business is currently overshadowed by Credit Suisse's admission that it spied on Khan after it became public that the star banker was headed for archrival UBS.
