The newly-created role will involve overseeing all wealth management and advisory activity, including asset allocation, as the investment house acknowledges the industry is undergoing "deep transformation".

Edmond de Rothschild has named Lars Kalbreier as global chief investment officer for private banking. He starts in the newly-created role on 1 October 2020 and will report to head of asset management Christophe Caspar.

Kalbreier’s arrival at the Geneva-based firm that delisted last year is expected to increase the focus on real assets and investment solutions in private markets and real estate. “Now more than ever, solid investment expertise and innovative solutions are needed to meet clients’ needs in an increasingly complex investment environment," the group said in a statement Thursday. In March, the wealth manager consolidated several of its property investment businesses into a single entity.

Kalbreier recently left as CIO in Zurich for Swiss rival Vontobel, and before that spent 14 years in senior roles at Credit Suisse, including global head of equities and alternatives research in the wealth and asset management division, leaving in 2017 as managing director. He was also posted in London for six years as a global markets strategist for JP Morgan.

Caspar said the firm was "counting on" his private banking and asset management expertise. “His long experience at major international financial institutions and on multicultural management teams represents an additional advantage in an industry that is undergoing a deep transformation,” he said.

The group manages around SFr170 billion ($174 billion) in client assets.