Spear’s Review

Stefan Bollinger, previously co-head of private wealth management for EMEA at Goldman Sachs, joined Zurich-based Julius Baer as CEO at the start of 2025. 

Bollinger had led Goldman’s wealth management business for over four years alongside Goldman stalwart Christopher French. Considered something of an ‘outsider’ – he is not part of the Swiss private banking ‘old guard’, having spent the majority of his career working in London – Bollinger immediately implemented a number of organisational changes at his new firm, including trimming the executive board from 15 to five, and reorganising regions and business lines. He also brought in former HSBC CEO Noel Quinn as chairman – the first-ever chairman at Julius Baer who isn’t a Swiss native.

It’s all part of a ‘focused strategy’ to put Julius Baer on the right path amid regulatory questions about its risk management and lending practices, and to help it to recover from losses stemming from the collapse of René Benko’s Signa Group.

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