The U.S. investment bank is on track with hiring private bankers in Switzerland. It is seeking to mix it up with an increasingly sought-after segment of the super-rich.
The New York-based bank will have 17 bankers in place in Switzerland by February, Marie-Ange Causse who oversees its Geneva wealth management activities together with Alain Krueger, told Swiss outlet «AllNews» (in French). «We are on track to achieve the goals we set for ourselves in June of last year, namely to have 20 to 25 employees within two years» she said.
The move is part of a wider European push to hire roughly 100 more advisers, as many as 30 of which in Switzerland. Goldman lost interest in Swiss private banking around 2016, when it shut its Geneva wealth operation. It reversed that decision last year, poaching from Lombard Odier to begin bolstering in the alpine nation again.
$10 Mln Minimum
Caussé and Krueger, a former UBS banker to the super-rich, said the Swiss arm targets with at least $10 million in bankable assets. «This minimum amount may seem high, but it should be compared with the average wealth of Goldman clients in the U.S., Europe, or Asia, which is around $55 million,» Caussé said.
In Geneva, where Goldman has traditionally been strong with oil-rich clients from the Middle East and with family offices, the bank will target domestic clients as well. Its private bankers typically deal with 20 to 30 clients, at most, and focuses on tailoring solutions for the wealthy clientele. Neither Caussé nor Krueger detailed asset or other targets in Switzerland.
