Julius Baer is adding a long-standing wealth manager to its board, underpinning its ambitions to grow its business with the U.K.'s wealthy.
Swiss-based Julius Baer is proposing David Nicol as a board member at its April 14 shareholder meeting, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Nicol ran U.K. wealth manager Brewin Dolphin from 2013 until last year when he retired.
«His strong wealth management, finance, risk management, and operations background will prove extremely valuable now that Julius Baer is shifting its strategic focus to sustainable profit growth, sharpening its value proposition for clients, and accelerating its investments in technology and people,» Chairman Romeo Lacher said.
Veteran Exits
The Swiss bank also said its Charles Stonehill, its 66-year-old vice-chairman, won't stand for reelection. Stonehill sat on Julius Baer's board since 2006. Nicol is to take over Stonehill's job heading its governance and risk committee, Julius Baer said.
Nicol led a period of heady growth at Brewin Dolphin, where assets stood at £46.7 billion ($65 billion) when he left. The London-based wealth manager doesn't maintain any foreign offices, besides in Dublin, Cork, and the Channel Islands.
Hiring Push
The appointment of Nicol is a nod to Julius Baer's efforts in the U.K. where CEO David Durlacher has opened regional offices in Belfast, Edinburgh, Leeds, and Manchester alongside its London branch in the onshore push.
A Glasgow branch was flagged in 2017 but has not emerged. The Swiss private bank is «looking for more talented relationship managers to join our team and continuing to invest in and grow our business» Durlacher said three months ago.
