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What is Juerg Zeltner up to at KBL? finews.com outlines the six- to eight-year plan emerging – a bid by Qatar to recoup some of its $1.2 billion investment in the bantam wealth manager.

Juerg Zeltner is poised to officially unveil his new strategy and identity for KBL early next year. The 52-year-old Swiss veteran is partnering with Qatar’s ruling family to revive the 72 billion euro ($80 billion) Luxembourg-based wealth manager, as finews.com reported.

The move is the culmination of more than one year of work orchestrated by Zeltner, UBS’ top private banker until 2017. He enjoys a direct and close relationship to influential members of the al-Thani family dating back to his UBS days, according to a person familiar with the matter. He put down his own money, and tapped Qatar for a cash injection.

«Attractive» Profit Share

The Luxembourg structures around KBL are multi-layered, but the bottom line is that the al-Thanis, who have ruled Qatar since its founding in 1850, still own 99.9 percent of the wealth manager. According to industry observers, Qatar has likely settled in for at least six to eight years with Zeltner at KBL. Observers expect at least two years of losses before Zeltner can begin to show the fruits of his labor.

Zeltner, wealth head Jakob Stott, and operating chief Colin Price invested in a first vehicle, Pioneer. «Partners» like ex-UBS private banker Søren Kjær and Swiss boss Dagmar Kamber-Borens have taken what one person familiar with the matter termed an «attractive» equity earn-out in a separate structure.

What is Qatar’s long-term plan? The al-Thanis bought KBL from troubled Belgian bank KBC in 2011 for 1.05 billion euros. It is undoubtedly worth less than that now – and thus the expansion push can be viewed as an effort to squeeze more value out of KBL.

«Incentives Needed»

After two years self-imposed time-out, Zeltner is clearly putting the UBS band back together, as finews.com reported. He has assembled erstwhile deputies and colleagues around him as he embarks on what several sources say is a several hundred million dollar expansion bid.

«The focus has definitely been on the front office, where a certain incentivization is needed to persuade people to come over,» a person familiar with the matter said. Many have heeded the call: In recent months, KBL has hired UBS bankers including Swiss risk expert Thomas Siegenthaler, product co-head Bryan Crawford, and Gonzalo Alvarez Conde, a Spanish private banker for the ultra-rich.