Switzerland's Zürcher Kantonalbank is recruiting an 18-strong team in order to strengthen its asset management business and has appointed chief risk officer Bruno Meier as its new deputy chief executive.

As part of its new strategy ZKB is looking to hire 18 staff for its asset management operation and has already appointed people to occupy key positions within the team, a spokesperson told WealthBriefing.

The new team will be responsible for expanding a range of products as well as index-linked exchange-traded funds for private and institutional clients. However, the firm is yet to decide whicj index the ETFs will be linked to, the spokesperson said.

Following the success of the bank’s precious metals ETFs, which have a current volume of almost SFr10 billion (about $7.4 billion), the firm plans to launch a range of funds for institutional investors covering equities, bonds and indirect property investments.

As a result of the development of its asset management arm, ZKB, which has SFr36 billion of client assets, intends to become a leading ETF provider in Switzerland, the firm said in a statement.

In other developments, ZKB appointed Bruno Meier as a new deputy to Martin Scholl, the firm’s CEO, effective from 1 January 2011. In this role Meier, who has served at the bank since 1971, succeeds Charles Stettler, who will retire at the end of December 2010.