Swiss Banks Seek Their «Hamers»

Surber says that some veteran bankers find this rather challenging because they tend to lose their flexibility. Strong convictions can stand in the way of adopting new ideas and concepts.

At Swiss cantonal banks, several CEOs stand out for their professional longevity. Martin Scholl of Zuercher Kantonalbank and Roland Ledergerber at St. Galler Kantonalbank have been in office since 2007 (St. Galler Kantonalbank is currently looking for a replacement).

Emerging Fintechs Pose Threat?

Interestingly, the business of those mostly state-owned banks is more than intact: they acted as safe havens during the financial crisis, had a lesser exposure to the tax dispute and profited very strongly from the recent years’ real-estate boom in Switzerland. So of course, these long-term CEOs have done well in many respects.

But now, the business is getting tougher again. Interest income is under pressure and foreign fintechs such as Revolut and N26 are making inroads in the Swiss retail market.

Cantonal and regional banks probably have some pent-up demand for new strategies and therefore new CEOs, says headhunter Surber. Not least because their business was solid in recent years and hence the pressure to evolve remained mild.

Pent-Up Demand

This doesn’t mean that all heads of domestic banks are lame ducks. Nedwed for instance, the head of Migros Bank, is managing one of the country’s most successful retail banks and has been very active in promoting new services and structures. Goetschin at Geneva's cantonal bank turned the firm around – and into an attractive universal bank.

This willingness to keep in step with the times will stay, said Surber. Hamers and his profile of a bank executive is an example: Chief executives who don’t invest in the digital business are increasingly out of place.

Reporting by finews.com, writing by Samuel Gerber