Swiss based private banking group EFG International is set to take on at least 150 client officers this year, despite the financial crisis. The Zurich-headquartered bank’s 2007 hiring targets remain relatively unaffected by tumultuous economic conditions.

“We took on 150 private client advisors last year and we plan to hire at least that many in 2009 in order to reach the figure set by our 2007 targets. Our desire to hire has not been diminished by recent events,” a spokesperson told WealthBriefing.

In an interview with Swiss daily Finanz Und Wirtschaft, EFG founder Jean Pierre Cuoni said it could take a little longer to reach some goals but that private banking remained a growth market.

"There might never again be such a good opportunity to bring in new advisors and clients. For this reason we're in no way pessimistic about 2009," he was quoted as saying.

The financial crisis has made EFG’s recruiters more cost-vigilant and, as a result, more selective. “We are very selective about hiring now to the point where we temporarily froze functional, mid-office and back-office hiring last year. But we have continued to hire private client advisors at the rate we always said we would,” the spokesman said.

In terms of operational expansion, plans for an Abu Dhabi base within the year are on course, though a launch date has yet to be scheduled. The bank could also expand through acquisition on a larger scale than before.

“Traditionally we have made small acquisitions due to the need to husband capital,” the spokesman said. “However, EFG is now a proven acquirer and is of a sufficient size that we foresee a potential large acquisition in future if a lucrative opportunity presents itself, as we said in our October interim report.

Media speculation that the bank is looking to acquire either Union Bancaire Privée,  Lombard Odier or Zurich-based Vontobel were rejected as unfounded.