Swiss bank taps ex-Boston Consulting Group partner Aerni to lead the charge. Geneva-based Pictet plans to double its wealth-management presence Zurich, Switzerland's financial and business capital. The first stage of the private bank's expansion plan for Zurich begins in April when Victor Aerni, formerly a Zurich-based partner with the Boston Consulting Group, comes in a head of wealth-management operations for Pictet Zurich.

In a nutshell

"We are convinced that Zurich offers [Pictet] the possibility of doing business with a large number of exacting clients who will be drawn by [our] philosophy, as well as the bespoke services, the long-term personal business relationships and the independent advice [we provide]," says Pictet managing partner Jacques de Saussure. "By significantly expanding the bank's presence in Zurich, we will be able to give our clients easier access to the Pictet Group's asset-management services, which are rooted in our experience stretching back more than 200 years."

Also joining Pictet's two-dozen staffers in Zurich are four private bankers hired away from HSBC Guyerzeller Bank, a Swiss private-banking subsidiary of HSBC, and a pair of portfolio managers from Julius Baer.

"The objective is to double the size of the Bank's wealth management operations in Zurich over the course of the coming economic cycle, in so far as the economic situation allows," says Christian Gellerstad, head of Pictet's wealth-management division.

Pictet moved into new and roomier offices in Zurich at the end of 2008. -FWR

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