Market head for Western Europe and four relationship managers to join Swiss private bank’s EU hub from rival Credit Suisse

Switzerland’s third-largest private bank Julius Baer has announced a series of new hires to strengthen its private banking offer from Luxembourg.

The bank announced the appointment of Jean-Daniel Roch as Luxembourg market head for Western Europe.

The former Credit Suisse veteran will report to Julius Baer’s Western European head Carlos Recoder.

The CEO of Julius Baer Luxembourg Falk Fischer will continue in his role at the helm of the local branch, according to the bank’s statement.

Together with Roch, four relationship managers – Jean-Daniel Roch, Oliver Theisen, Françoise Dawir, Tomasz Kosiur and Nicolas de Canchy – with portfolios in the Benelux region, France and the Middle East, will join Julius Baer from rival Credit Suisse.

The five new recruits will all be based in Luxembourg.

The hires are part of Julius Baer’s expansion plans in Luxembourg, following its decision to make the Grand Duchy its European hub for international clients with cross-border needs.

Fischer told Luxembourg Times in an interview last August that all international clients outside of Switzerland would be serviced by the Luxembourg-based branch, with transfers including the accounts of high-net worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net worth (UHNW) individuals.

Julius Baer, founded in 1890, serves individuals from the higher end of the wealth spectrum. Clients must have at least €1 million in assets to bank with the Swiss group.

The CEO said last August that of a number of hires would take place at the Luxembourg branch, particularly in advisory, investment management, insurance, structuring and wealth tax planning.

Bank Julius Baer Luxembourg has a full banking license and is a fully owned subsidiary of Zurich-based Julius Baer Group. It employed around 210 people in the Grand Duchy in January 2017.

In its annual report for 2017, released on 31 January, Julius Baer Group reported assets under management of CHF 388 billion (€335 billion), marking a 16% annual increase, worth CHF 52 billion.