Jürg Zeltner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jürg Zeltner
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 May 1967 |
| Died | 22 March 2020 (aged 52) |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Occupation | Group CEO & member of the Board of Directors at KBL European Private Bankers |
Jürg Zeltner (born 4 May 1967 – died 22 March 2020) was a Swiss business leader. He was the Group CEO and a board member at KBL European Private Bankers.
Before that, he was the President of UBS Wealth Management. He held this role from November 2014 to December 2017. He was also part of the UBS Group Executive Board since 2009. In 2016, he was named the best global private banking CEO. This was according to a survey by Euromoney.
In 2019, Jürg Zeltner was diagnosed with a serious brain tumor. He passed away on 22 March 2020. His son, Thomas Zeltner, later started a company in his father's memory.
Contents
Education and Early Life
When Jürg Zeltner was growing up, he wanted to study veterinary medicine. This means he wanted to become an animal doctor. However, he ended up doing an internship at a bank. This bank was called Swiss Bank Corporation.
This bank later joined with another bank, Union Bank of Switzerland. Together, they formed UBS, where Zeltner would work for many years. He earned a diploma in Business Administration. This was from the College of Higher Vocational Education in Bern, Switzerland. He also attended a special management program at Harvard Business School.
Career Journey
Starting at the Bank
Jürg Zeltner began his banking career in 1987. He joined the Corporate Client division of the Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC). Between 1987 and 1998, he held many different jobs. These roles were in the Private and Corporate Client division. He worked in cities like Bern, New York City, and Zurich. One of his jobs was managing credit risk for big clients.
Joining UBS
In 1998, Swiss Bank Corporation merged with Union Bank of Switzerland. This created the big bank known as UBS. After the merger, Zeltner became head of Portfolio Management. This role involved managing investments and capital.
From 2005 to 2007, he was the CEO of UBS Deutschland in Frankfurt, Germany. In November 2007, he became the Head of Wealth Management for North, East & Central Europe. From 2009 to 2012, he was co-CEO of Wealth Management and Swiss Bank.
Leading Wealth Management
He was the President of UBS Wealth Management from 2014 to 2017. During this time, he managed over 2 trillion dollars in assets globally. On 4 December 2017, UBS announced that Zeltner would step down. He officially retired from the company in 2018. Martin Blessing took over his role as President of Wealth Management.
In 2019, Zeltner was appointed Group CEO of KBL European Private Bankers. He also became a member of their Board of Directors. He invested a lot of his own money into this banking group. Zeltner was also considered for a role at Deutsche Bank in 2019. However, he resigned from that position at the end of the year.
His Business Ideas
Jürg Zeltner often talked about his ideas for banking. In 2011, he explained how UBS focused on wealth management. This means helping people manage their money and investments. He believed that banks should advise clients, not just sell them products.
In 2015, he was ranked second among the best global private banking CEOs. He shared his strategies for wealth management. He said it was important to help clients spread their investments. This is called portfolio diversification. It helps protect money when markets change quickly. He believed that banks should focus on giving good advice. This helps clients understand how to invest wisely.
Other Activities
Jürg Zeltner was a member of the IMD Foundation Board in Lausanne.
Philanthropy
Jürg Zeltner was also involved in helping others. He was the Chairman of the UBS Optimus Foundation. This foundation works to improve the lives of children. He held this role until he retired from UBS in 2017.
At the World Economic Forum in 2015, UBS launched the Davos Challenge. This event encouraged people to walk to raise money for bicycles. These bicycles were for children in South Africa. Zeltner took part in this challenge with other UBS participants.
