Luxembourg-based global private bank Quintet has reshuffled the top leadership of its branches in Luxembourg and Germany following a series of departures of senior executives at the end of last year that included CEO Europe Thomas Rodermann, one of several former UBS executives that had joined the bank in recent years.
Rodermann (photo), the former head of UBS in Germany, was seen as the architect of the integration of the private bank’s German, Dutch and Belgian businesses into a single business unit. He was one of at least seven former senior UBS executives that had joined Quintet in recent years. Quintet’s senior management today still includes two former UBS executives: chairman Rory Tapner and group chief operating officer Eli Leenaars.
No next CEO Europe
Qatar-owned Quintet does not plan to reappoint a new CEO Europe, a spokesman said. The integration of the national branches in the EU has been completed, he said, and that the firm last year appointed former HSBC executive Chris Allen as group CEO, Allen replaced Jakob Stott, who was the former vice chairman at UBS.
Quintet is looking for calmer waters after turmoil in recent years. Plans to develop Zurich-based Bank am Bellevue bank, which it had acquired in 2019, were derailed by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the unexpected death of CEO Juerg Zeltner, former president at UBS Wealth Management, who died of cancer at the age of 52 in March 2020.
The firm’s Swiss adventure, which eventually led to shutting down Bank am Bellevue, had cost it more than 70 million euros, resulting in a net loss of some 110 million euro for 2021, forcing the Qatari owners to inject additional cash. The development also had been a source of internal friction, and has been questioned by staff at some of its other branches. At its Dutch unit InsingerGillissen two investment teams last year left the company, forcing Quintet to reaffirm its commitment to its business in the Netherlands.
In Quintet’s current constellation, the firm operates with two hubs: Brown Shipley in the United Kingdom and the business unit for its branches in EU countries, comprising Merck Finck in Germany, InsingerGillissen, Puilaetco in Belgium and its Luxembourg and Danish units.
Savenay returns to Germany
In the latest reshuffle, Michael Savenay (photo) has replaced Krafft as chief executive officer at Merck Finck. Saveney previously served as CEO of Quintet Luxembourg. He has been with the firm since 2014 and earlier was at Merck Finck as head of sales, products and services.
To fill the gap left behind In Luxembourg, Thomas Klein (photo) has been promoted to chief executive officer of Quintet Luxembourg. Klein, who joined the private bank in Luxembourg two years ago as head of its Europe-wide asset servicing business, will lead the firm’s 300 staff based in the grand duchy. Klein brings more than two decades of Luxembourg experience to his new role, Quintet said.
Klein will also continue to serve as group head asset servicing, Quintet said. In that role, he leads a team focused on growing the firm’s book of institutional and sophisticated private clients – including family offices, investment funds, corporates and private investment companies – that require global custody and execution services.
Klein is a German national who pursued his studies at the Frankfurt School of Finance and the University of Trier. Before joining Quintet he was at UBS Luxembourg, Hauck & Aufhäuser Lampe and Deutsche Bank.