Top Credit Suisse private banker Iqbal Khan has emerged as one of the hottest talents in Swiss wealth management. finews.asia cuts through the rampant rumors about his next move.
After just three years in the C-suite, Iqbal Khan is already the subject of fevered speculation over his next step. The former EY consultant is rumored to be in the running for the top spot at wealth manager Julius Baer, as «Reuters» reported two weeks ago.
The 43-year-old's name surfaced with the entrance of ex-Credit Suisse banker Romeo Lacher as chairman at Julius Baer, as finews.asia reported. Lacher is reportedly looking to replace Hodler, who is too closely associated with the era of hot and frequently reckless growth under ex-CEO Boris Collardi to represent a convincing fresh start for the bank.
Wave of Speculations
What is merely a hypothesis at Julius Baer – Lacher was only elected last week, and won't have undertaken any official business before then – has unleashed a wave of speculation at both banks, finews.asia has learned. The truth is more nuanced: Lacher is nowhere close to subbing in a new CEO, and Hodler, who turns 59 this year, is far from finished with his mandate.
To wit, the CEO traveled to Hong Kong and Singapore in recent weeks to present his new strategy to the employees of one of Julius Baer's biggest markets (roughly one-quarter of the bank's assets now stem from Asia). Hodler is also expected to stick around for a thankless three-year, $87 million clean-up exercise.
Unwanted «Lame Duck»
Julius Baer is also relying on Hodler, a 21-year veteran who knows the bank inside and out, to formalize internal processes that languished during Collardi's tenure. The star CEO's era of Sturm und Drang led to rapid growth, but has sparked several high-profile regulatory scandals including one into its dealings in Venezuela.
Against this backdrop, the last thing that Julius Baer needs is a «lame duck» stamp on its CEO. The speculation over Khan's future has emerged because he was the only divisional head to hit his targets at Credit Suisse during CEO Tidjane Thiam's grueling three-year revamp of the Swiss bank, as finews.asia reported in February. Like Collardi, Khan was an outsider, until Credit Suisse hired him in 2013 as finance chief of the private bank.
Credit Suisse Aspirants
Six years later, he is the natural successor to Thiam, as well as a viable candidate to run either Julius Baer or even UBS, which faces a leadership crisis of its own, as finews.asia reported. Ambitious and driven, Khan is happy at Credit Suisse but nevertheless keen for the bank to map out a career plan for him.
Khan isn't alone in that: Lara Warner, an Australian-American veteran investment banker who currently oversees risk, is also emerging as a candidate for more at Credit Suisse. To be sure, Credit Suisse might – as in 2015 when Thiam was recruited from British insurer Prudential PLC – look outside, or even begin advancing someone who isn't yet in top management towards the top spot. Thiam, known for keeping his cards close to his chest, has expressed a desire to stick around in order to enjoy the fruits of his and his top management's labor.
Reporting by Katharina Bart
