New forms of mortgage brokerages in the past years have made life harder for retail banks, because their interest margins came under pressure. Martin Scholl, chief executive at Zuercher Kantonalbank, expects life to get a little easier once the central bank starts to tighten the monetary screws again.

Scholl expects most of the «countless» mortgage brokers will disappear, according to an interview with Swiss business paper «Finanz und Wirtschaft» (behind paywall). And smaller pension funds would also have to exit the business because it would not be profitable anymore, the head of Switzerland’s fourth-largest bank said.

Acquisitions Remain Possible

Zuercher Kantonalbank will continue to diversify its business and specifically expand the wealth management division, despite the setback suffered by Raiffeisen with the sale of its private bank. Raiffeisen is Switzerland’s No. 3 bank and also predominantly reliant on retail banking.

Zuercher Kantonalbank wants to outpace economic growth in the Zurich region, its home and the powerbase of the Swiss economy. Scholl said further acquisitions were possible, for instance in the segment of alternative investments.