The former head of Julius Baer clients in the Middle East is the latest senior wealth manager to defect to rival Pictet, a source at the bank told finews.asia.
When Geneva-based Pictet raided rival Julius Baer in December last year, the industry was convinced it had not heard the last of these high-profile exits. Saman Habibian began as Pictet's head of Middle East in Zurich this month, a source at the bank told finews.asia.
Habibian was Julius Baer's head of Middle East and a well-known name amongst so-called Gulf Cooperation Countries, or GCC, bankers. He is a raft of Julius Baer bankers who followed Daniel Savary to Pictet, signaling that bank's ambitions in the Middle East.
Bitter Fight
Habibian is the latest in roughly three dozen bankers Pictet has poached from Julius Baer globally under new wealth management co-head Boris Collardi. 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.
«Boris' plan at Pictet is built on the markets he knows well and has a very good network in – the non-resident Indian, Middle East and North Asia businesses,» according to a person who was part of initial discussions at Pictet. «This is a credible plan – he knows the bankers and the clients who matter [in these regions] and he has built a track record for success during his time at Julius Baer but it will force him to go head-to-head with his previous employer. It will be a bitter fight.»
