Bank J Safra Sarasin has added four managers to its asset management team, including a new head of its equities team.

Florian Esterer is the new head of asset management equities and will be joined by Thomas Zbinden, joining as senior portfolio manager and Christoph Lang, taking up the role of portfolio manager.

In addition, Helmut Kotschwar is appointed to the new role of head of investment centre and will be responsible for portfolio construction across all asset management units.

Esterer has joined from MainFirst, where since 2011 he was a senior portfolio manager for global equities. From 2003 to 2011 he worked for Swisscanto and headed the global equities team.

Kotschwar has joined from SAM Sustainable Asset Management, where since 2008 he was senior investment strategist and head of portfolio analysis. From 1993-2007 he held senior portfolio roles with Siemens in the financial services division. He started his career in private banking with Hauckbankiers in Frankfurt.

Zbinden has joined from Swisscanto, where since 2007 he was senior portfolio manager. From 1994-2007 he held senior equity portfolio roles with Credit Suisse Asset Management and Private Banking. He started his career with Bank von Ernst & Cie in Berne.

Lang has joined from Zurich Kantonal Bank, where since 2010 he was a senior quant portfolio manager. He conducted his traineeship with ZKB and with Standard Chartered Bank.