LGT Hires Ex-Julius Baer Banker for Middle East Wealth Business

Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) — LGT Group, the bank owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, hired Peter Schaer to run its Middle East private-banking business in Dubai.

Schaer, who headed the Dubai office of Julius Baer Group Ltd. before leaving the third-largest Swiss wealth manager earlier this year, will start on Jan. 1 as senior executive officer for LGT (Middle East) Ltd., Christof Buri, a spokesman for Vaduz, Liechtenstein-based LGT, said by telephone today.

“We’re looking to hire experienced client advisers for the Middle East region,” Buri said. “Being the bank of the Prince of Liechtenstein is a story that resonates well there. They’re used to ruling families.”

Private banks are investing in wealth-management services in the Middle East as the number of millionaires increases. Private wealth in the Middle East and Africa surged 12 percent to $5.2 trillion in 2013 amid high savings rates and economic growth in oil-rich countries, according to a June report by Boston Consulting Group.

Liechtenstein is a principality of about 37,000 people wedged in the Alps between Switzerland and Austria. As the country unwinds its traditions of financial secrecy and increases tax cooperation with other countries, its banks are seeing opportunities to boost business in faster-growing emerging markets where affluent families are looking for wealth managers to safeguard their assets offshore.

LGT opened its Dubai office in 2012 after hiring private bankers from a unit of Credit Suisse Group AG. While LGT advises and takes orders from clients in Dubai, it mainly books assets abroad with the bank’s unit in Geneva. LGT also takes private- banking deposits in Liechtenstein, Austria, Hong Kong and Singapore. The Dubai business employs almost 20 people, of which about 10 are client relationship managers, Buri said.

LGT plans to boost client assets advised by the Dubai business to 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.1 billion) to 6 billion francs within three to eight years, compared with less than 1 billion francs today, Buri said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Giles Broom in Geneva at [e-mail]; Dinesh Nair in London at [e-mail] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Bentley at [e-mail] Steve Bailey, Heather Smith