Jürg Zeltner was a banker with traits and character

With his death, the banking world loses a distinctive, independent head. Tentner’s work as head of the UBS wealth management business is remembered. An obituary.

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You will miss him, the confident banker bursting with energy. Jürg Zeltner, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor last November, surprisingly succumbed to his serious illness on Sunday at the age of just 53. His last ambitious project to quickly create a powerful private banking group from the comparatively modest Luxembourg Quintet Private Bank (formerly KBL European Private Bankers) remains unfinished. It was only in spring 2019 that Zeltner joined the private bank as an operational chief and member of the board of directors, in which he also contributed with his own money. He was brought in by the Qatari family Al-Thani, to which Zeltner had a good connection during his time as head of the UBS wealth management business.

The Thuner, who had learned banking from scratch as an apprentice at the Swiss Bank Association, had his greatest time at UBS, his second last station. After a series of batches that led him to Frankfurt as head of UBS Germany, among other things, he moved to UBS group management in 2009, still in the era of Oswald Grübel, initially as co-boss, later as sole boss of Wealth Management division.

A new machine room

His merits include the strategic realignment of this core unit. He was to shape the bank’s machine room from a traditional collection point for wealthy customers’ money (“asset gathering”), which did not place a high priority on performance. To this end, in 2011 he brought together 2500 specialists from various departments in Opfikon. The aim of the new IPS (Investment Products and Service) unit was to give customers access to the bank’s know-how about markets and products within a useful period of time. The newly created position of Chief Investment Officer (CIO) ensures to this day that customers have access to a consistent view of the economy and financial markets across the bank. At the same time, Zeltner invested in building a pool of highly qualified consultants.

Because the surroundings clouded over again after a brightening, Zeltner was forced to take a horse cure from the second half of 2015 until the end of 2016, which made deep cuts on the cost side necessary. Hierarchy levels were abolished and positions cut. Although the revitalization was successful and wealth management regained its former strength, Zeltner announced its resignation at the end of 2017. Talks about his further professional future, which he had with his boss Sergio Ermotti, should not have turned out to his satisfaction. With the departure of Zeltner, UBS lost one of the few internal candidates for Ermotti’s successor.

A profiled head

After his departure, the bank merged Zeltner’s former Wealth Management unit with the sister unit Wealth Management Americas in 2019. Zeltner had always rejected such a step because the business model of the two units is too different. The broker model common in the USA, which is designed for the sale of products, cannot be reconciled with the more advisory-oriented approach of European character. Therefore, the IT platforms cannot be merged and synergies cannot be leveraged. So far, expectations have not been met.

With Zeltner, the banking world loses a distinctive head who likes to rely on their own opinion, which is often formed when walking with the dog. Former employees remember his willingness to listen and allow them a lot of freedom. And Zeltner was also one who did not lose his composure even in difficult situations.