As head of PKB, Umberto Trabaldo Togna is the CEO of one of Switzerland's few remaining independent private banks. He tells finews.asia what his requirements for a merger would be – and how Italy could be the industry's new hot spot.
Umberto Trabaldo Togna, how did you convince Luca Venturini to leave his job at Julius Baer to run PKB?
Luca Venturini has been attracted by the possibility to join one of the few, fully independent, medium-sized private group with strong family values and sound financials, in order to guide it through a new phase of growth. As compared to its competitors, PKB has the unique advantage to be present with a bank onshore in its two core markets.
Will he become a co-owner of the bank?
No. He will join the bank only as CEO, at least at this stage.
Next year, you will become chairman of PKB. What are the strategic opportunities that you and Luca Venturini would like to pursue?
Do you focus on growth or more on efficiency? We constantly adapt in order to remain competitive, so both growth and efficiency will be at the center of our project.
PKB is one of the few independent mid-sized private banks left in Switzerland.
A sale of the bank is not an option on the agenda.
Is a sale or merger also a possibility?
A merger could be taken into consideration only if it could create value for all the stakeholders – clients, employees and shareholders. But in order to do that, many conditions will have to be satisfied which would not be easy.
«Our merger didn't materialize»
In the past, we have acquired and integrated five smaller banks and an independent asset manager. Once we have been close to a merger that unfortunately did not materialize. We are still looking for opportunities.
Historically, PKB has had a strong focus on Latin America. Will this be developed further under the new leadership?
Latin America is an important and interesting market for PKB. Indeed the group has Italian roots and there are many similarities between Latin American and Italian customers, just think of the massive Italian immigration to Latin America. We have had a presence in Panama since 2012.
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