At the beginning of July, Evie Kostakis will take over the finances of the private bank Julius Baer. The Greek-American manager does not believe in saving for the sake of saving.

The appearance on May 19 was characteristic of Evie Kostakis' career at Julius Baer. For the first time, during the strategy presentation, the designated Chief Financial Officer (CFO) appeared alongside CEO Philipp Rickenbacher in front of the assembled financial analysts to explain the Zurich-based private bank's financial goals for the next three years. Tomorrow, the dual Greek-American citizen steps into the management of the Zurich-based bank.

She will hardly have time to take a deep breath after taking office. Since May, the financial markets have veered deeper into negative territory, prompting Rickenbacher to indicate customer funds flowing out of the bank. If the volumes on which fees are generated fall, the cost pressures are all the more pronounced, and Kostakis will be challenged to restore the balance. In an interview with finews.asia, she takes the challenges awaiting her with equanimity. «You never stop learning,» she says.

The Long and Winding Road

That could very well be the motto of her career at the company's headquarters on Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse. In 2013, Dieter Enkelmann, the outgoing head of finance at Baer, brought the financial expert to the company. She could already look back on a career at various Wall Street firms and management positions at Athens-based financial institutions. Since then, she has been on a long learning path. Among other things, she worked in the bank's corporate development and strategy department, alongside head of investment Yves Bonzon, and serving as Enkelmann's deputy head of finance since 2020.

Kostakis is suitably equipped to implement the financial strategy, which seeks to cover a wide range of topics from focused market growth, and improving revenue quality to digital assets. «In that respect, it made sense for me to present the strategy with Philipp,» Kostakis says.

1 Billion for Tech

The Julius Baer Group which in the recent past had abruptly changed several executives has now succeeded in a nifty piece of succession planning. This stands in contrast to its neighboring competitor Credit Suisse on Zurich's Paradeplatz, where the search for a successor to  Chief Financial Officer David Mathers continues.

Kostakis wants the new three-year plan for the bank to be seen as an evolution of the «profitable growth» model of recent years. As in the previous planning period, the bank seeks to grow and save at the same time. So it's foot on the gas pedal while pulling the handbrake on. Kostakis wants to save 40 million Swiss francs a year ($41.8 million) from 2023 to 2025, which according to boss Rickenbacher does not include staff.

However, this is not saving for its own sake. Some of that will be offset by significant additional spending on IT, says the budding CFO. Julius Baer will spend around 1 billion francs on technology over the next three years.

Centime-Pinching

Kostakis will work very closely with COO Nic Dreckman and senior management. «We need to make sure that every franc spent on technology generates a return for the company,» she stresses. Adding to the challenge is that the new program has begun as the environment has become unpredictable.

«With the interest rate hikes, central banks want to fight inflation. They could succeed - but so could result in a recession,» the trained economist points out. Such fears are already evident in the stock markets, Kostakis says, adding «Because of falling prices, the asset base is shrinking, and we have to pay all the more attention to costs.»

While it won't be easy to ensure operational continuity at the bank, the CFO-designate has plenty of changes in store for the finance department that reports to her. Job profiles are undergoing major changes which is why she will be «reskilling» and «upskilling» her team.

Learning Python

Gone are the days when accounting and auditing skills were sufficient for a career in banking. What is required now is in-depth knowledge of technology and an understanding of the business to affect the transformation of the company. When she was an associate at Morgan Stanley,  young bankers were assigned to be experts in end-user solutions. «These days, budding talent is learning Python and other programming languages,» she said

Kostakis doesn't take sole credit for making it onto the executive board of a publicly-traded Swiss bank more than 20 years after starting her career at Morgan Stanley. «I was lucky enough to be accompanied by mentors,» the 46-year-old manager looks back.

Very aware that she is viewed as a role model, Kostakis now wants to «give something back.» As one of two women in Julius Baer's nine-strong management team, she is well placed to do so.