Senior partner leads packed town halls in Singapore and Hong Kong. At the bank's offices there will be noticeable changes made.

Pictet's much-loved senior partner and the man with his name on the door was in Asia this week to hand over the reigns of his business in the wake of his retirement later this year. Addressing employees at packed town halls in Singapore on Tuesday and Hong Kong on Wednesday, Pictet put his considerable credibility behind Renaud de Planta, who is to succeed him in the last quarter of the year.

Much of Pictet's time was spent talking up De Planta's ability to lead the 213-year old bank into the future. De Planta is a familiar figure with a few senior bankers in the region, having spent time here as CEO of UBS in Hong Kong and later, North Asia. There were «no fireworks» at either town hall according to one staffer at the bank.

Cherry-Picked Asia Head

There was, however, an emotional element to what may well be Pictet's last trip to the region in an operational role. «Nicolas is just a class act,» says one banker who lauds the veteran's three decades at the bank as a «steadying hand» who was also «a pleasure to put in front of clients.»

As the longest serving of Pictet's top management, Nicolas Pictet was at varying times responsible for the private bank in Asia as well as human resource and staffing for the group. He is known to have a «one-on-one» equation with several staff members in Asia and cherry-picked Asia head Claude Haberer for the top job. Since then, Haberer and he are believed to have remained close. 

All in the Family 

Pictet also enjoyed a certain degree of fame amongst clients in Asia, being the scion of a family dynasty himself like so many of them were. On many occasions, he admitted clients often asked him what «secret sauce» of making it as an eighth-generation success story was.

«The fact that we are some sort of family business is very important,» he said in an interview with the Financial Times. «It’s a big, big, big advantage – for the Chinese, but also in Europe.»

Changes Expected

De Planta, in contrast, has spent much of his two decades at Pictet building and running the asset management business. Understandably, at the bank's offices in Asia expect there will be noticeable changes made in how the bank is run. It would not «really [be] such a big deal» that there is a change of leadership after three decades the staffer, except that «Pictet has rarely changed, until now.»