Bank Finter, the private bank acquired by Vontobel in September, will restart its business under the new brand name in January. Jean-Pierre Stillhart and Luigi Carnelli, the managers in charge of the transaction, already plan the next steps.
The brand name of Zurich's Vontobel bank already adorns the former Finter branch in Lugano, at Via al Forte 1. In the new year, Vontobel will receive its first customers on the premises of what used to be Bank Finter.
Luigi Carnelli (pictured left), the former boss of Finter in Zurich and new head of the Italian business at the Vontobel private-banking unit, expects a smooth start. «We can already see the interest of customers in Vontobel, some have even dissolved their deposits at rival banks and brought their assets to us,» Carnelli told finews.ch in an interview.
Loyal Clients
The customers of Finter were quite satisfied to take their money to a quality brand of Vontobel's standing, according to the former Finter manager. Carnelli didn't want to specify how much of the 1.6 billion francs, which Finter managed at the time of the takeover in September was moved to Vontobel. «We hardly had any outflow,» he insisted.
The same applied to the agreement about the self-declaration of assets Switzerland concluded with Italy in early 2015. «The important customers wanted to stay even after the agreement was sealed.»
Only Part of Staff Will Be Retained
The same can't be said about the 65 employees working for Finter in Zurich and Lugano. The 25 client advisers were all taken on by the Italy-Desk at Vontobel, but back-office staff won't all be taken on by the Zurich-based company.
«A solution for a string of back-office employees will be found in coming months,» Carnelli promised.
Looking for New Client Advisers
Vontobel is however planning to hire new people in Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. «We are still looking for new client advisers in Ticino,» Carnelli said. Vontobel may be profiting from the withdrawal of some competitors from the region adjacent to Italy.
And that's for starters only: «Private banking with Italian customers is a fast growing business,» Jean-Pierre Stillhart (pictured left) told finews.ch. Stillhart, head of private banking in Switzerland, was pulling the strings in the takeover of Finter. «An expansion onshore to Italy is possible in the future.»
Vontobel Asset Management has been active in Italy since 2002, managing about 6 billion francs.
A Commitment to Switzerland
Still, Vontobel declared the move to Lugano as a commitment to the Swiss private banking business. Stillhart, who joined Vontobel from Bank Rothschild in 2013, is busy enough in the home market.
The manager's ambition is to make Switzerland the No. 1 for net new money within private banking at Vontobel. This hasn't been the case in the recent past because growth was sought and found in regions such as Eastern Europe.
Stillhart is a former elite sportsman and obviously a keen performer. Vontobel in 2015 achieved net new money growth of more than 4 percent in Swiss private banking. «I'm proud that the domestic market has become a driving force for growth at Bank Vontobel,» Stillhart said.
