Pictet is lifting eight senior private bankers out of rival Julius Baer, finews.asia has learned. The move represents an unparalleled raid by the Swiss wealth manager.

By Shruti Advani, Editor-at-large, finews.asia

Zurich-based private bank Julius Baer has been hit by the defection of Middle East and Africa head Daniel Savary and seven other senior bankers for rival Pictet, a source familiar with the matter told finews.asia.

The raid by Pictet comes six months after Julius Baer's former long-standing CEO Boris Collardi started as a partner. The partner-led Genevan firm had emphasized that it wouldn't resort to poaching. Savary will become Pictet's head of wealth management in the Middle East, a spokesman for that bank confirmed to finews.asia. 

Another ten employees from Savary's team are expected to defect as well. In total, 18 bankers and staff under Savary, who moved to Julius Baer from Clariden Leu with 18 people in 2012, are headed for Pictet by mid-year, a source familiar with the matter said.  

Sheer Size

Saman Habibian, a managing director, also resigned as head of GCC International, Julius Baer's business catering to clients in the Middle East. He was at the private bank for close to five years, prior to which he was head of sales and acquisitions at Bank J. Safra Sarasin.

An additional six bankers from the same team have also tendered their resignation. Whilst confirming that «around half a dozen of our Middle East & Africa (MEA) team are planning to leave Julius Baer», a spokesperson for the bank said to finews.asia, «we are confident in our ability to retain client relationships.»

Much of that confidence may be attributed to the sheer size of the bank's footprint in the region – it has over 100 relationship managers serving Middle East and African clients from different locations.

Pictet's Ambitions

Following the hires, Pictet plans to cater to the Middle East's wealthy from Geneva, Zurich and Dubai. The eight will kickstart the next growth phase in the region for the Genevan wealth manager, a spokesman said.

«This expansion reflects Pictet's ambitions in Zurich. The city is becoming increasingly attractive to customers in the Middle East.»

Dubai is Julius Baer's designated hub for the region and the bank employs over 170 people there to serve clients in what it refers to as its «core markets» in the United Arab Emirates and the Indian Subcontinent.