In the discreet tradition of Swiss banking, Bank Julius Baer has kept quiet during its half-century in the United States.
Now, two new senior vice presidents in the New York office want to get the word out about the Zurich bank's private banking offerings.
The new U.S. general manager is James L. Schlagheck, an 18-year private banking veteran at American Express Bank.
In November, Mr. Schlagheck took over Baer's U.S. operation from David E. Bodner, who continues to work for the bank as executive vice president pending his retirement next year.
Mr. Schlagheck said one of his mandates is to increase visibility of a bank that few wealthy Americans have even heard of.
"We've been here for 56 years, but we've had a lower profile," he added.
Overall, Bank Julius Baer manages approximately $40 billion of assets, yet its U.S. holdings represent less than 10% of that.
Mr. Schlagheck is joined in the new effort by Balz Eggimann, who returned to Julius Baer in November to direct marketing after a five-year hiatus at Coutts & Co., the private banking unit of National Westminster Bank.
"We don't have a private banking arm. Julius Baer is a real private bank - that's the only language we speak here," Mr. Eggimann said.
For Mr. Eggimann, that language is spoken in person, not through any other medium. One of the first changes he and Mr. Schlagheck made was to pull the plug on a radio ad campaign that ran for two months in the New York metropolitan area.
"I don't believe in mass marketing. We're are not Merrill Lynch or a superbank. We're not everything to everybody," Mr. Eggimann said.
Mr. Schlagheck is hoping to edge out other Swiss banks in the United States and compete with the American icons of the market, such as Northern Trust and U.S. Trust.
To do so, the bank has to contend with heavyweights like Swiss Bank Corp., Union Bank of Switzerland, and Credit Suisse, which all have private banking offices in the United States.
"Baer is a top-notch private Swiss bank with excellent global reach and it's a formidable competitor to UBS in any market," said Peter E. "Tony" Guernsey Jr., managing director of private banking in the United States for the Zurich-based rival of Julius Baer.
Yet, Mr. Guernsey disagreed with the notion that mass marketing does not work. Union Bank of Switzerland has gotten new American accounts from print advertising.
"In the financial industry, advertising is not an ancillary idea, it's a cost of goods similar to the resources contributed to systems and portfolio management," Mr. Guernsey said. "It's awareness for the bank."
Mr. Schlagheck and Mr. Eggimann believe that pleased clients will make their friends aware of Julius Baer. They look for referrals to market to young entrepreneurs. Also, they are holding more seminars between clients and investment managers.
Mr. Schlagheck believes Julius Baer can attract more American clients by touting its reputation and expertise in foreign securities. A major line of its business is selling equity research to investment managers as well as competitors.
"When it comes to identifying good value in global stocks, people come to us for that," Mr. Schlagheck said.
"It used to be that the world was dominated by U.S. investment opportunity. Some of our competitors are landlocked - they have no global perspective," Mr. Schlagheck said.
Mr. Schlagheck does not see new kids on the block as competitors.
"Just about everybody and their brother are trying to get into this business because of fee income," Mr. Schlagheck said. "There's going to be a huge shakeout because few institutions" have the distinct marketplace identity needed to survive.
The publicly traded bank is controlled by the founding Baer family, which still holds a 49% stake in the stock.
Considering that Julius Baer is also family-run - Hans J. Baer is chairman - Mr. Schlagheck believes family ties distinguish it from competitors that also manage family money.
"There is a tradition about our establishment, it's quite old-world," Mr. Schlagheck said.
