In finance, the resort town is best known as a hunting ground for private bankers in search of clients. Information made available to finews.com indicates a round of recent UBS appointments.
Everybody and everyone in the industry knows Robert Allenspach in St. Moritz, maybe even in the whole of the Grisons.
Since 1998, he has been managing the UBS branch there. Then in 2009, he took over the entire private banking business in the Grisons market area while also being one of those responsible as a specialist for the local mortgage business.
42 Years of Service
His start in banking goes even farther back than that, to the days of the old Credit Suisse. He became an apprentice there in 1981 and held various functions. After that, he worked at Swiss Bank Corp, one of UBS's predecessor organizations, before joining Switzerland's largest bank in the Engadin, although he also worked in Aargau and Zurich.
Now he has decided to take early retirement in March 2024 after serving for the bank for the past 42 years, according to certain sources. One of the first things he apparently intends to do is to go traveling.
This posed a difficult question for the Swiss head of business Sabine Keller-Busse and the new private banking leader August Hatecke. Who would become the new face of UBS in such an important market and location?
Waiting for a Market Head
According to an internal bank memo, the choice appears to be Franco Borromini. He is expected to take over the branch in St. Moritz from March 1, 2024. The choice is not plucked out of thin air. Borromini has been heading the private banking team in St. Moritz since October 2019, a job that prepares him well for his new responsibilities.
Giovanni Tordi will be shouldering the responsibility of heading the private banking business in the Grisos while also functioning as the private banking head in St. Moritz itself, as of March 1. Tordi grew up in the Upper Engadin and has been working in banking in the area for 25 years and has an extensive network to match as a result. Daniel Wuersch will take up the additional responsibility for the retail business throughout Eastern Switzerland, which includes St. Moritz and the Grison, from early 2024 on. This is in addition to his role as the market head of the Thurgau area.
Still, there is the unsolved question as to who will be appointed to head the Grisons area, taking that function over from Allenspach.
Stablizing Credit Suisse
The Zurich head office will continue to keep the canton and the private banking hotspot of St. Moritz in focus. As finews.com previously reported, UBS had to stabilize the situation in the resort town after the departure of Credit Suisse banker Stephan Uebersax. Beyond that, various media reports indicate that a number of other Credit Suisse bankers had departed.
As a result, UBS sent Andreas Reber to St. Moritz to stabilize the situation related to Credit Suisse's business.
