Zuercher Kantonalbank appointed an outsider to succeed long-standing CEO Martin Scholl, who is retiring next year. This is a departure from for the lender, which traditionally recruits from its own ranks.
The local government-backed lender is appointing Urs Baumann as CEO, effective September 1, it said in a statement (in German) on Thursday. Baumann is to replace Martin Scholl, who has led Zurich's cantonal bank since mid-2007 – one of the longest-serving Swiss bank CEOs.
Foreign Experience
The 54-year-old Baumann completed a multi-step competitive selection process which began with 50 candidates, Chairman Joerg Mueller-Ganz told finews.com. His election is a surprise, as cantonal banks traditionally recruit from their own ranks.
Baumann's career is multi-faceted: he spent five years with McKinsey as an engagement manager early in his career before Swisscard tapped him as CEO in 1998. He then spent several years at Barclays Bank and then as CEO of Norwegian credit firm Lindorff before, in 2010, returning to Switzerland as CEO of Bellevue Group.
Impact Founder
Most recently, Baumann oversaw Blue Earth Capital, the impact investment arm of Partners Group. Baumann voiced surprise to be considered for the cantonal bank's top job: «I worked my way through the annual reports and found a highly interesting company,» he told finews.com. He would like to bring «passionate entrepreneurialism» to the firm, he said.
He joins the cantonal bank on June 1 and will work alongside Scholl in a three-month transition before taking over. This resembles the same type of handover that ZKB conducted for its new head of private banking, Florence Schnydrig Moser, who shadowed her predecessor for several months before fully taking over in May.
