Deutsche Bank AG is considering ex-UBS Group AG wealth management head Juerg Zeltner for a supervisory board position as the German lender seeks to strengthen its business of managing rich people’s money, according to people familiar with the matter.
Zeltner, 52, is seen as a front-runner for the position, said the people, asking not to identified discussing the private deliberations.
The executive currently runs KBL European Private Bankers SA, a group backed by one of the biggest investors in Deutsche Bank. No final decision has been taken, the people said.
A spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Zeltner.
Deutsche Bank, under chief executive officer Christian Sewing and Supervisory Board chairman Paul Achleitner, has embarked on its biggest restructuring program in recent history, seeking to cut reliance on volatile trading while strengthening businesses including wealth management.
Sewing has replaced several management board members, but the supervisory board remains largely unchanged except for one new member.
Deutsche Bank’s board member Stefan Simon was appointed chief administrative officer in the lender’s overhaul, overseeing regulatory and legal affairs. The bank nominated Dagmar Valcarcel to succeed Simon.
Zeltner ran the flagship $1.3tn wealth business at UBS and was seen as a contender to become chief executive officer of Switzerland‘s largest bank before he announced his departure at the end of 2017, after more than 30 years at the Swiss bank and its predecessor. Achleitner contacted him about a role at Deutsche Bank in 2018 but the talks didn’t lead to an agreement, Bloomberg previously reported.
Zeltner was named to run KBL in May, heading a network of wealth-management businesses across Europe. The group is owned by Precision Capital, a Luxembourg holding company representing the interests of some members of a major Gulf investor.
The investor agreed to buy the business in late 2011 from Belgian bank KBC for roughly €1bn ($1.12bn). The sale was part of a restructuring plan of the bank after receiving state aid.
Deutsche Bank’s wealth management is dwarfed by UBS and Credit Suisse Group AG, though Sewing has targeted the business for expansion, along with transaction banking services for corporate clients. The German lender is hiring a team of wealth managers from Julius Baer Group Ltd, and earlier hired about a dozen private bankers in Italy from Credit Suisse.
It’s not clear who Zeltner would replace on the board. The Sunday Times previously reported that TSB chairman Richard Meddings, who was appointed in late 2015, will leave this year. His term officially expires in 2021.