Julius Baer today said it has appointed Burkhard Varnholt as its new head of the firm’s investment solutions group and as its chief investment officer from 1 March next year.

Julius Baer today said it has appointed Burkhard Varnholt as its new head of the firm’s investment solutions group and as its chief investment officer from 1 March next year, taking the roles previously held by Hans Lauber.

Lauber is leaving the Swiss bank for private reasons and some time ago asked to be relieved of his duties to devote more time to his family, a statement from the private bank said.

Prior to joining Julius Baer, Varnholt, who has more than 20 years of experience in the industry, had been CIO and head of asset management and institutional clients of Bank J Safra Sarasin; prior to that, he had held a senior position at Credit Suisse.

Lauber, meanwhile, will retain his current roles and duties until the handover on 1 March.

Among recent news at the Zurich-listed bank, Julius Baer last said it had taken full control of the Merrill Lynch International Wealth Management businesses in Lebanon, Bahrain and UAE, continuing the process of transferring operations into the Swiss-listed bank around the world.

The transfer of the businesses follows moves to take full control of other Merrill Lynch IWM operations since Julius Baer agreed to acquire the US firm’s non-US wealth business in August 2012. Julius Baer has already taken control of operations in regions such as the UK.