Julius Bär appoints Stefan Bollinger as the new CEO

The Swiss asset manager Julius Baer has appointed Goldman Sachs banker Stefan Bollinger as the new CEO, concluding a six-month search. Bollinger, a Swiss national currently serving as Co-Head of Private Wealth Management for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Goldman Sachs, will assume his new role at Julius Baer no later than February next year. The group has been without a CEO since February, following a writedown on the crisis-hit real estate company Signa that prompted the resignation of Philipp Rickenbacher. Romeo Lacher, Chairman of Julius Baer, stated that Bollinger's experience combines a deep understanding of risks, products, and value creation for global wealth management clients through building scalable, client-centric businesses. Several European private banking managers were considered for the role during the search process led by the executive search firm Egon Zehnder. At one stage, the Julius Baer board even considered appointing EFG CEO Giorgio Pradelli, which led to renewed merger talks between the two Swiss banks. However, these negotiations failed as the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) would not approve the deal following Julius Baer's losses with Signa. With the announcement of Rickenbacher's departure, Lacher made it clear that the new leader would come from outside the group. Since February, Rickenbacher's deputy, Nic Dreckmann, has been leading the company on an interim basis. Julius Baer will publish its half-year results on Thursday. Bollinger has been with Goldman Sachs for 20 years and has been a partner for 14 years. He previously worked at JPMorgan in London. Since his appointment as Co-Head of Private Wealth Management EMEA in 2019, the business's assets have doubled. "I look forward to working closely with the board, the management team, and all employees of Julius Baer to leverage the unique strengths of the firm," Bollinger said.