Speak to any of the CROs working at EFG International and they are almost evangelical about the benefits of working for the Swiss-based firm.
The main reason is simple: an experienced private banker aged 35 to 40 sees a clear long-term route to substantial personal wealth by doing right for his clients, retaining and growing assets under management.
The upshot for other private banks is that EFG is a competitor they have to take seriously.
“Why don’t you work at Goldman Sachs?” Euromoney asks one CRO. “Because, over the long run, I can probably earn more here,” comes the surprising reply.
At EFG, the bankers know they are the centre of the whole show.
Perhaps even more surprising, in his first note since EFG’s IPO, Jon Pearce, European banks analyst at Fox-Pitt, Kelton, points out: “There is no direct, global, pure-play private banking peer for EFG operating the same model.”
A good question is: why not?
The model works for shareholders and it clearly attracts successful private bankers. In 2000, EFG employed 50 CROs. Now it employs close to 250. The first generation of bankers came mainly from Coutts and Citibank where the founders had forged their careers.