Zurich-based Julius Baer said it has hired four bankers including Ralf Mielke as deputy head of portfolio management in Frankfurt. Mielke was most recently investment chief at J. Safra Sarasin, a Brazilian-Swiss private bank and major rival to Baer.

Safra Sarasin has had little joy in Germany in recent months: the bank decided to pull out of the market earlier this year because it couldn't sustain a profit. This week, the bank was ordered to pay 45 million euros to «drug store king» Erwin Mueller in a high-profile court case over tax loophole products which has also brought its own problems.

Regional Hires

Mielke will report to German portfolio management head Lutz Welge, contributing in particular expertise in sustainable investments and risk controlling. Welge's team will also add Jens Wissel, formerly a Hauck & Aufhaeuser portfolio manager.

Other German additions at Julius Baer include Alexander Schmidt, who previously was head of private banking at Bankhaus Hallbaum, which in turn belongs to M.M. Warburg. Schmidt will chiefly be responsible for high-net worth Germans in Hannover and Lower Saxony.

The Swiss private bank already in April hired Andreas Wagner, most recently with Safra Sarasin, as well as Hauck & Aufhaeuser's Thorsten Kubeil. Wagner will seek clients in Hannover and Lower Saxony, while Kubeil will focus on Frankfurt. 

Steady German Expansion

«As far as the next few years are concerned, we are planning a steady expansion of our branches’ wealth management and wealth advisory services,» Julius Baer's Germany head Heiko Schlag said.

On Monday, the private bank reported a rise in assets, as a hiring spree particularly in Asia began paying dividends. The German boost represents a return to Baer's European roots that the bank has long ignored in favor of hot ones like Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Last September, Julius Baer named close Collardi associate Yves Robert-Charrue as head of Europe. It is the sixth role for Robert-Charrue, who has become something of a Mr. Fixit at Baer, in eight years with the bank.