9. Roger Studer
The Vontobel lifer also had a good year, expanding the Swiss bank’s structured product offensive to France. He also oversaw «Scout,» an iPhone app which allows the wealthy to juggle their structured product investments like they would their Spotify playlist.
As head of investment banking, Studer is a star at the bank, especially as its private banking arm has never really taken off. The luxury car aficionado gets extra points because he has been spotted cycling to appointments in Zurich’s banking district.
8. Alexis Lombard
The scion of Switzerland’s Lombard banking dynasty is perhaps best-known for what he didn’t become: a partner at Geneva’s Lombard Odier. The rupture among the Swiss private bank’s partners ultimately caused Lombard as well as his father, Thierry Lombard, to leave and join up with Landolt & Cie, another family bank – albeit a far smaller one.
Like Rothschild’s Laurent Gagnebin, Lombard trained as a hospitality school graduate, not a banker. Handy then that Landolt, a 237-year-old wealth manager, boasts the Beau-Rivage Hotel, one of the world’s top-100 hotels, as a strategic partner.
7. Iqbal Khan
The former consultant oversees more than 336 billion Swiss francs in Credit Suisse private banking assets. This year, Khan was blindsided by several factors largely out of his control. At home, a pay backlash hit Credit Suisse hard before top management backed down. Abroad, Dutch authorities are leading a six-nation tax investigation linked to the bank.
One would be forgiven for not noticing that Khan’s private bank outdid industry heavyweight UBS in net new money growth. It remains to be seen whether he can convert those fresh funds into tangible income.
