Vontobel's doyen of wealth management for eastern Europe's wealthy is cutting back. He will be replaced by a former Wegelin private banker.
Rolf Frehner (pictured below) will hand over the reins for private banking in central and eastern Europe to Rolando Zanotelli, effective January 1, the Zurich-based bank said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. Vontobel hired Zanotelli two years ago as the deputy for the 65-year-old Frehner.
Zanotelli began his career in the private banking arm of now-defunct Swiss wealth manager Wegelin. He takes over from a veteran of Swiss wealth management for Russia's wealthy: Frehner was with Credit Suisse, Coutts, Sal. Oppenheim, and Deutsche Bank before joining Vontobel five years ago.
Hiked Assets
Frehner's network paid off for Vontobel: the eastern European team grew to 55 staff from 23, and managed assets climbed to $10 billion Swiss francs ($10 billion), from 3.5 billion francs, during his tenure. The region enjoyed the personal interest of patriarch Hans Vontobel, who was well-traveled in the region.
Two years ago, Frehner oversaw the merger of Vontobel's eastern Europe business with that of Notenstein La Roche. This turned out to be an audition for the full acquisition of Notenstein La Roche, the private bank, last year. The veteran Swiss banker will remain at Vontobel as a vice-chairman and senior adviser.
