BrazilChristian Langel and Peppi Schnieper join Bain's Swiss partnership
In sync with the admission of new six partners in Germany, Bain & Company has added two partners to its Swiss partnership.
Christian Langel has been with global strategic consultancy Bain & Company since 2010. Having climbed the ranks from Consultant to Principal, he has per the 1st of July been promoted to partner. Langel has two main areas of expertise. First, he supports private equity clients with mergers & acquisitions and portfolio optimisations, with a focus on the healthcare sector. Second, he advises clients in the consumer goods industry on strategy development, business transformation and project execution. The 39-year-old is based in Bain’s Zurich office, and previously gained international working experience at the firm’s office in Sydney.
Peppi Schnieper has been a partner in Bain’s Zurich office since April this year. However, his move from EY caused – according to Swiss media platform Inside Paradeplatz – a stir in the firm’s ranks, in a case which even caught the attention of global chief executive officer, US-based Manny Maceda. During a Christmas party in 2015, one of the personal assistants sat on his lap on a stage for a role playing game, in plain sight of the around 200 EY staff present. The scene was described by one EY consultant as “tasteless” and by another as “on the verge of erotic.”
Schnieper’s move to Bain & Company incited a number of Bain partners to question the matter. During a partner meeting just after he joined, a debate unfolded, with a number of partners requesting further clarification. Reporting by Inside Paradeplatz suggests that the dialogue even came to the notice of Bain’s top global ranks, and the firm’s two top executives – chief executive Manny Maceda and chairman Orit Gadiesh – were obliged to join the debate.
The case ultimately did not have any consequences for Schnieper. According to records, no allegations of harassment were formally made against him, and on the back of this premise, Bain has 'cleared' the case and he has commenced his work for the US-headquartered strategy consulting firm.
Schnieper is an expert in banking and is part of Bain’s Financial Services practice, specialised in strategy, target operating model optimisation and digital transformation. He boasts a strong track record in the consulting industry. At EY, the 42-year-old was a partner in the firm’s Financial Services industry group, and headed the firm’s strategy consulting offering in Switzerland. Previously, Schnieper served Roland Berger for eight years (latterly in the role of Principal), the University of St.Gallen and two companies in the aviation sector.
Bain & Company has nearly 20 partners in Switzerland. Other partners are Thomas Lustgarten (managing partner), Enver Adakan, Miltiadis Athanassiou, Adrien Bron, Hannes Brändli, Jens Engelhardt, Gilbert Grima, Norbert Hueltenschmidt, Mario Häuptli, Massimo Lusardi, Dieter Meyer, David Michels, Josef Ming, Pascal Roth, Oliver Straehle, Daniel Suter and Moritz Vielhauer.
According to managing partner Thomas Lustgarten, Bain & Company is growing strongly in Switzerland. In discussion with Swiss business magazine Bilanz, he admitted that the firm currently “has to reject many projects” amid booming demand for its services.
Meanwhile, at EY...
Meanwhile, at Schnieper's former employer EY, the situation has imploded. Following a number of cases of alleged harassment, including a top executive (a Board member) who was even fired following concrete evidence that he harassed a women, the firm tapped Swiss law firm Lenz & Staehelin to investigate the cases and broader culture. Schnieper however is not part of the review.
The case has caused widespread shame for EY in Switzerland, which has around 2,500 employees and is led by a team of 120 partners. The latter group were embarrassed even further recently when whistleblowers hung a large poster on the firm’s main office in Zurich requesting Mark Weinberger (the firm’s CEO) to “clean up the Swiss business, now!” Meanwhile, EY has in the person of Marcel Stalder, the firm’s under fire chief executive for Germany, Switzerland and Austria, vowed to take the case very seriously.
