Swiss bank Julius Baer taps Goldman Sachs executive as CEO

By John Revill and Oliver Hirt

ZURICH (Reuters) - Julius Baer on Tuesday named Goldman Sachs partner Stefan Bollinger its new CEO, as the Swiss private bank seeks to move on from the multi-million dollar Signa debacle.

Previous chief Philipp Rickenbacher was ousted in February after the wealth manager had to write down 586 million Swiss francs on loans to Signa, the failed property group controlled by Austrian magnate Rene Benko.

Bollinger, co-head of private wealth management for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Goldman Sachs in London, will join Julius Baer no later than Feb. 1, 2025, the Swiss bank said.

The appointment is likely to end any immediate prospect of a potential 15 billion Swiss franc ($16.85 billion) merger between Julius Baer and its smaller peer EFG International, which had been under discussion, analysts said.

Bank Vontobel analyst Andreas Venditti said while Bollinger's appointment had not "completely changed" the picture, he would need to settle in before any further moves on the deal were likely.

"As long as he's not in place, and until he's got familiar with the job, nothing will happen," Venditti said as he welcomed the appointment.

The respective valuations of the two banks also meant the tie-up was currently "not optimal" for Julius Baer, Venditti added.

Reuters last month reported that Julius Baer and EFG had scrapped talks on a prospective merger, which had considered bringing in the latter's CEO to lead the combined entity, because of regulatory concerns about the deal.

Julius Baer's shares rose by as much as 1.6% in early trade. Industry insiders said Bollinger had the skills and experience to succeed, noting an important part of role will be smoothing relations with regulators.

The 50-year-old executive was described as being at home with large customers, an important consideration at the bank where around a third of the customers are described as ultra wealthy - with investible assets of more than 30 million francs.

Analysts noted that Bollinger had a good track record at Goldman. "He understands the entire business - strategy, customer contact, products. He's a charming guy and he can motivate people," said a source.

"Stefan has a great network, he's at home in the world of the wealthy."

Some cautioned though that he was still an unknown quantity in a top job.

"(Bollinger) does not have experience running a large, public company such as Baer and does not seem to have a great deal of Asian experience (a key growth pillar)," Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said in a research note.

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Julius Baer Chairman Romeo Lacher praised Bollinger's record and said he had played a major role in expanding Goldman Sachs' presence in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Under his leadership over the past five years, Goldman's private wealth management business in Europe, Middle East and Africa had more than doubled its assets under management.

"Stefan led and built outstanding businesses, most of them at the intersection of wealth management and capital markets," Lacher said, noting Bollinger's "comprehensive understanding of risk", a key consideration after the Signa case.

Bollinger, a Swiss citizen, started his career at Zuercher Kantonalbank and also worked at JP Morgan before joining Goldman Sachs, where he had been a partner for 14 years.

"I am excited to be joining Julius Baer," he said.

He will be charged with steering Julius Baer to calmer waters after the Signa writedowns, and the announcement it was exiting the private debt business.

In the last 12 months the bank, which manages 417 billion francs in assets, has seen its share price drop 8%.

($1 = 0.8890 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by John Revill; Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt, Dave Graham and Stefania Spezzati; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Jacqueline Wong, Louise Heavens and Jan Harvey)