EFG International AG is ramping up hiring globally this year with an above-average addition of about 100 wealth bankers a “realistic” number, according to board member Boris Collardi.

“We are hiring very actively,” Collardi told Haslinda Amin in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Singapore on Tuesday. Collardi said the firm has hired about 30 bankers in Asia so far this year — the most number of new hires in the region — in line with EFG’s strategy to expand, particularly in greater China and Southeast Asia.

“Some of them will come from Credit Suisse and UBS but not only,” said Collardi, who was the former Chief Executive Officer of Julius Baer Group Ltd. “There’s been a lot of movement in the market and lots of people are relooking at their options now.”

EFG, established in 1995 by the Greek billionaire Latsis family, has several hundred million Swiss francs of excess capital for deals, CEO Giorgio Pradelli said in a January interview. Targets will be in key markets that include Singapore, Hong Kong, as well as London and Europe, which are also among the areas where the bank plans to add headcount, he said at the time.

While the bank is looking to do deals, there is nothing on the table right now, said Collardi, who advises Zurich-based EFG on its growth strategy in Asia that may include acquisitions.

Market Consolidation

With the merger of UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse, Collardi sees everyone now “looking for opportunities” and expects market consolidation in the sector to resume.

The Swiss firm is among international wealth firms competing to expand market share in Asia. It ranks 19th among wealth firms by assets in Asia excluding China, trailing the largest in the region UBS and HSBC Holdings Plc, according to the 2022 league table by Asian Private Banker.

Collardi led a period of breakneck expansion through nearly a dozen acquisitions and joint ventures at Julius Baer, before taking a role as partner at Banque Pictet & Cie in 2018. He took the EFG board seat last year, representing the Latsis family, while also buying a 3.5% stake in the firm from board member Spiro J. Latsis.

The Swiss firm currently manages about 30 billion Swiss francs ($33.5 billion) of assets in Asia, and looks to grow that to 50 billion Swiss francs under a three-year strategy, Collardi said.

--With assistance from Marion Halftermeyer and Huiao Cui.

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