Kathrein Privatbank, one of the largest players in the Austrian high net worth market, has appointed a new chief executive.

Kathrein Privatbank, one of the largest players in the Austrian high net worth market, has appointed Dr Susanne Höllinger as its new chief executive, effective from the start of next year.

She replaces Dr Christoph Kraus, who has been Kathrein´s CEO for the past 13 years, but who is leaving to set up his own business at the beginning of 2013. Dr Kraus will continue to work with the private bank as a consultant.

Dr Höllinger joins from Erste Bank Austria, where she has been in charge of the private banking business since 2004. Before heading the private banking division at Erste she helped building up the business. Earlier in her career, she worked in various positions within the securities sector.

The appointment of Dr Höllinger has yet to be confirmed by the Austrian financial regulator, the Financial Market Authority. 

Kathrein Privatbank is owned by Vienna-headquarteredRaiffeisen Bank International. Raiffeisen has subsidiaries and affiliated banks in most Central and Eastern European countries, and is running private banking operations abroad under the Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen brand.

“The private banking market in Austria has been stagnant since 2008,” Michael Wodzicki, a member of the board of directors and head of international private banking at Kathrein Privatbank told his publication in a recent interview. “Partly due to global economic problems there has also been a flight of rich people’s money to real assets such as real estate and gold. So there is not a lot of growth in the domestic business, but the international business is still growing. You have had a lot more turbulence in Hungary and some other countries in the region, where wealthy people look at Austria as a safe haven.”