Quintet is poaching a prominent banker to the super-rich from J.P. Morgan, finews.com has learned.
The Luxembourg-based wealth manager is hiring Cindy Eicher-Battistini, J.P. Morgan's head of private banking in Zurich, four sources familiar with the hire told finews.com. She is to become a senior client adviser in Quintet's family investment office in Zurich from November 1, one of the people said.
The hire of Eicher-Battistini, a high-profile Swiss private banker to the ultra-rich, is a major coup for Quintet. Equipped with a fat checkbook from its Qatari parent, the $90 billion European wealth player is seeking a revival under CEO Jakob Stott, a former UBS private banker. Quintet is comprised of nine private banks including in Britain, Belgium, and Germany.
Swiss Ambitions
Eicher-Battistini will report to Philip Higson, who oversees the multi-family office business in Zurich, Luxembourg, and London. She will be responsible for the expansion of its family investment office, where she and Patrick Jung will lead a team covering ultra-high net worth clients, one person said.
Quintet's loss widened last year amid a hiring drive as well as the acquisition of Bank am Bellevue, a move orchestrated by Juerg Zeltner, its first CEO. Zeltner, who ran UBS' private bank from 2009 until three years ago, died suddenly in March, leaving Quintet scrambling to fill the void.
Qatar's ruling al-Thani family bought the bank from troubled KBC in 2011 for 1.05 billion euros ($1.23 billion). Quintet in Switzerland aims to double its roughly 40 employees currently, Swiss boss Emmanuel Fievet told finews.com in May.
