The Swiss private bank's top-paid executive was CEO Philipp Rickenbacher – despite being in the job for just four months.
Zurich-based Julius Baer lowered pay for its top management by 800,000 Swiss francs ($863,000) last year, according to its annual report released on Monday. This was mainly due to a pay cut for ex-CEO Bernhard Hodler, who earned 40 percent less on the year (3.65 million francs).
Specifically, Hodler wasn't awarded any new shares for 2019, the year he retired from Julius Baer. The bank was recently sanctioned by Switzerland's regulator for dealing in Venezuelan corruption money and other scandals – for a period in which Hodler was responsible for its risk.
Pipped on Pay
The pay drop for Hodler means his succcessor, Philipp Rickenbacher, was the highest-paid Julius Baer banker last year, at 4.4 million francs. Rickenbacher took over from Hodler in September – meaning he pipped his predecessor on pay despite being in the job half as long.
Rickenbacher's salary was a mix of four months as CEO and eight months as head of intermediaries. Both his and Hodler's pay pales in comparison to more lavish payouts handed out to ex-CEO Boris Collardi, who defected for Pictet nearly three years ago.
Pay Denial
Collardi earned nearly 6.5 million francs in 2016, his last full year running Julius Baer. His pay plummeted by almost 5 million francs in 2017 after he defected to the Genevan wealth manager – and he also left 7 million francs in share awards on the table in order to go.
Julius Baer's shareholders in 2014 rejected Collardi's pay, in a purely consultative vote. Current Chairman Romeo Lacher, who took over from Daniel Sauter in April, took home nearly 1 million francs. This represents a more modest payday than Sauter, a low-key power broker who earned more than 1 million francs annually.
