The great-grandson of Julius Baer has launched a new bank in Zurich – a company dedicated to serving entrepreneurs and companies alike. He said he wants to bring the personal touch back to banking.
MBaer Merchant Bank has received the green light from Finma, the Swiss banking regulator, to start operating, it said in a statement on Friday.
Michael Baer – an entrepreneur with banking in his genes – is the founder of the new bank. His great-grandfather Julius Baer started the namesake private bank some 130 years ago. Michael Baer started MBaer together with Swiss and international partners. Together they have raised 30 million Swiss francs (US$30.2 million) in capital.
The bank has its headquarters on Zurich’s Utoquai, next to companies such as Lombard Odier and Bergos Berenberg.
A Personal Vision
MBaer has a clear vision of what it wants to achieve: it aims to serve entrepreneurs, their families as well as companies. The founders said that countless discussions with businessmen had shown that they don’t want to talk to anonymous corporations but decisions-makers themselves. It is the personal contact that matters, MBaer said.
The new bank will provide wealth advisory and asset management services, risk management as well as trade finance. MBaer will also help its clients link up and use their connection to do business, exchange experiences and ideas for business opportunities.
A Team of Eleven
Michael Baer, who will act as chief executive officer, has assembled a team of ten bankers: Niklaus Hasler (chief risk officer), Philip Biber (COO), Mélanie Chopard (CFO), Felix Grundler (chief compliance officer), Paul-Michel von Mérey (chief wealth management), Roland Eberhard (CIO), Frank Mueller (corporate and trade finance), Martina Bigliardi (wealth management), Marco Zeloni (wealth management) and Oezlem Keles (wealth management).
Søren Mose, a former Saxo Bank manager, is the chairman and Marcel Aellen and Rajesh Bothra are members of the board.
