To start the year, finews.com takes a look at five women and five men from whom a lot can be expected in the Swiss financial industry n the coming months.
1. Francesca McDonagh – A restructurer who has what it takes to do and more
(Image: CS)
She was supposed to become head of Europe at Credit Suisse (CS). But even before Francesca McDonagh joined Switzerland's second-largest bank, she was destined for greater things. As chief operating officer (COO), she now acts as the right-hand of Group CEO Ulrich Koerner.
Together with Chief Financial Officer Dixit Joshi, they form the trio to orchestrate the institution's restructuring. If this restructuring succeeds she will likely be accorded even more responsibility and as Koerner's deputy, could succeed him as CEO.
2. Francesco De Ferrari braces himself against the rising tide
Image: PD)
Credit Suisse's Francesco De Ferrari has one of the toughest jobs in Swiss banking at the moment. After asset outflows of nearly 100 billion Swiss francs in the wealth management business for which he is responsible, the banker is under massive pressure to perform in 2023. For now, his private bankers have succeeded in stemming the worst outflows.
But it will take more time to restore the trust of rich and super-rich clients. As volumes shrink and revenues in the bank's core business decline, the turnaround targeted for 2025 becomes even more difficult. What will De Ferrari do in 2023?
3. Iqbal Khan: No Margin for Error
(Image: PD)
Since joining UBS in 2019, things have gone like clockwork for Iqbal Khan. In 2021, as co-head of Global Wealth Management (GWM), he made a significant contribution to the record year of Switzerland's number-one bank. Following the retirement of Tom Naratil, he is now single-handedly responsible for the big bank's core business.
For many observers, this makes him the obvious choice to succeed CEO Ralph Hamers. All the more so, as the new chairman, Colm Kelleher, wants to expand the business with super-rich private clients even further. Now that powerful interns like Josef «Joe» Stadler have been «tamed,» no one stands in the way of the ambitious Khan.
But to whom much is given, much is also expected. The difficult environment predicted for this year could hold a few pitfalls for Khan.
4. Naureen Hassan on a trek with the American rich
(Image: UBS)
When Iqbal Khan took over overall responsibility for the GWM division from co-head Tom Naratil last October, Naureen Hassan became president of the business for the Americas.
Hassan is well-connected among US financial insiders, having been number two at the New York Federal Reserve, the most important of the twelve regional banks, before her appointment at UBS. She knows UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher from their time together at Morgan Stanley, and they share the goal of significantly raising the standing of the Swiss institution in the US.
Hassan already initiated the first reorganization last November, UBS's response, to the trend of wealthy Americans leaving big cities in droves for Texas and Florida.
5. Peter Romanzina goes West for Vontobel
(Image: Vontobel)
In the future, Peter Romanzina will be looking after wealthy Americans, but only if they bring their money to Switzerland and Vontobel.
When the long-serving head of research at the Zurich-based investment firm took over as head of subsidiary Vontobel Swiss Wealth Advisors (VSWA) in November, it came as a surprise. Romanzina will also lead the new unit created by the merger of Vontobel SFA (formerly UBS Swiss Financial Advisers) and VSWA at the end of the first quarter of 2023.
The unit will manage around 10 billion francs in assets, becoming the Swiss market leader in offshore business with US citizens. Given the new focus on the Americas in Swiss banking, the traditional Zurich-based institution Vontobel is now also in the spotlight.
6. Verena Gross – Expanding Pictet's private banking
(Image: Pictet)
Verena Gross takes over as head of Pictet's Private Banking in German-speaking Switzerland in July from Victor Aerni, who will be based in Singapore and will be responsible for Asia. That puts her in charge of the market in which the Geneva-based private bank is growing the fastest in Switzerland.
This is no small responsibility, especially since Pictet signaled its growth ambitions in 2021 when it moved into the prestigious Leuenhof building on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. The experienced banker certainly has the skills to meet the challenge. She has been with Pictet for 13 years and previously worked for Goldman Sachs, serving super-rich clients from Zurich.
7. Jay Bidermann – The torch is passed to the new generation
(Image: R+B)
Jay Bidermann, the fourth generation of the Bidermann family, joined the Zurich-based private bank Rahn+Bodmer at the beginning of 2023, where the partners have unlimited liability for their private assets. The bank, founded in 1750, is securing its continuity and underscoring its belief in the future of Swiss banking.
Bidermann says «for me, the focus is on contemporary personal service. I see great potential for the future in this individual approach, as this has been increasingly lost elsewhere, where the focus is increasingly on standardized solutions.»
8. Nicole Curti – Figurehead of the changing EAM scene
(Image: Christophe Senehi)
Generational change is more of a concern for independent asset managers than ever before. Various surveys show half of today's active external asset managers (EAMs) will reach retirement age in the next few years and close shop or sell their businesses.
In this respect, the election of Nicole Curti as President of the Swiss Association of Asset Managers (ASV) was exemplary. She built up the Geneva branch of the asset manager Stanhope Capital and previously worked at the private bank Lombard Odier. She embodies the «next generation» of EAMs, seeking more collaboration and pushing the use of new ways of working.
In the new year, she plans to announce which independent asset manager she will return to in a leadership role after Stanhope Capital, an important move given her role as ASV president.
9. Luca Venturini brings dynamism to the financial scene in Ticino
(Image: PKB)
Hardly any other Swiss private bank in Ticino made more headlines in the past year than PKB. It consistently shed old models and switched to a future-oriented growth course, and formulated realistic ambitions for Ticino. Luca Venturini, who joined the company from Julius Baer in 2019 and has been CEO of the bank since 2020, played a key role in this new beginning.
He brought fresh faces to the board last year, including former UBS and Credit Suisse banker Monica Malnati as head of HR on the Executive board. Ex-UBS banker René Meyer as Senior relationship manager of private banking with a Latam focus, and a Credit Suisse team led by Raimondo Morandi. Former UBS manager Stefano Veri joined as a member of the board of directors.
They seek to position the company of the Trabaldo Togna family as an address for private banking services in what is seen as an underestimated, but important, financial center.
PKB is not limited to Lugano, having a presence in Bellinzona, Zurich, Geneva, and Panama. Its subsidiary Casa Lombarda, gives it a bridgehead to Italy which is something many other Swiss financial institutions lack.
10. Karin Keller-Sutter: Following in big footsteps with a flair
(Image: EFD)
Following the resignation of Ueli Maurer, Karin Keller-Sutter steps in to head the important Finance Department. In Keller-Sutter, the department has someone who distinguished herself in the past not only by her solidity in her remits but also by her keen sense of public sentiment and an instinct for how to wield power.
Her predecessor set the bar very high. Like few finance ministers before him, Maurer cultivated deep relations with the financial industry. The well-connected new finance minister can certainly be expected to work with the same verve to promote the Swiss financial industry and build good relationships with the key players in the industry. She will have to prove that in 2023.
With contributions from Claude Baumann, Samuel Gerber
