As Pictet's newest partner, star private banker Boris Collardi has splashed the private bank into the headlines. Senior partner Nicolas Pictet is downplaying the would-be novice's influence.
«We won't change anything that distinguishes us and feeds our success,» Nicolas Pictet, senior partner of the eponymous Swiss private bank told «Neuen Zuercher Zeitung» (in German, behind paywall) on Wednesday. The statement is in response to the noise around Boris Collardi, Pictet's newest partner and former CEO of Julius Baer.
Shortly after joining the Genevan rival last summer, star banker Collard began luring ex-associates to Pictet – breaking with a centuries-old tradition of diffidence among Geneva's private banks. His biggest coup was poaching an 18-strong Middle East team including head Daniel Savary, as finews.asia reported exclusively.
Not Conflict-Seeking
Nicolas Pictet denied that the team's move was a result of Collardi's efforts: the 18 private bankers had been searching for an alternative to Julius Baer for some time, he maintained. Pictet, in turn, wants to grow in the region.
«We don't want to risk any conflicts with Julius Baer, to whom we maintain the best relations,» Pictet said. He said it is also a coincidence that Pictet has picked prime real estate directly opposite to Julius Baer's on Zurich's prestigious Bahnhofstrasse in the former headquarters of Credit Suisse-owned Bank Leu.
The top banker's remarks don't change the fact that come the end of next year, the former Julius Baer boss will be able to fill newly refurbished office space with some of his old colleagues. The Middle East team's rapid move as well as the surprise exit of Pictet's private banking boss soon after Collardi joined last year indicate that the pillaging likely isn't over yet, as finews.asia reported last week.
Personality and Character
Collardi, who manages Pictet's private banking business with Rémy Best, is to reinforce the bank in the Swiss-German, Italian, and Asian markets, according to Nicolas Pictet. His charismatic personality, described here by finews.asia, is likely to continue to keep Pictet in the headlines.
«We took on a personality, not a business model – a character, not a career,» Pictet said. It is exactly this personality which has successfully poached dozens if not hundreds of private bankers from rivals – and is likely to keep them on their toes.
