Marcel Roca worked in human resources at Credit Suisse for nearly half a century, bringing in big banking names. Now he works for Iqbal Khan’s asset management unit at UBS.
Marcel Roca (pictured below) has taken on a new role in UBS’ Global Wealth Management (GWM) business headed by former Credit Suisse banker Iqbal Khan, finews.com research reveals. Roca will report to the division’s head of HR Andrea Saxer, and is expected to work for Switzerland’s largest bank until the end of the year.
Roca will be a familiar name to many Swiss bank executives. The HR specialist was with Credit Suisse for over four decades through 2021, rising to the level of Managing Director. He helped set up the Talent Recruiting unit, which sought out future executive talent.
Among his discoveries are Boris Collardi who, after a brief tenure at Credit Suisse, moved to Zurich-based private bank Julius Baer, advancing to CEO in 2009 at the tender age of 34. Collardi later briefly became a partner at Geneva-based private bank Pictet and now serves as a board member and minority shareholder at Zurich-based EFG International.
UBS declined to comment about his involvement with UBS. Zurich-based consulting firm DR-RH, where he worked as a partner and external consultant, confirmed that Roca temporarily stepped aside because of the UBS mandate. DR-RH is run by two former Credit Suisse executives and acts as a personnel broker between independent asset managers and private banks.
UBS may have pulled off a coup by hiring Roca, who is likely to know the best talent at Credit Suisse because of his long tenure there. After acquiring Credit Suisse in March, UBS is keen to keep Credit Suisse personnel and their Rolodexes of rich clients.
With the takeover, UBS committed itself to the clear goal of becoming a $5 trillion global private banking giant.