BrazilMartin Mende new Head of Strategy at Credit Suisse Switzerland
Martin Mende is re-joining Credit Suisse, appointed Head of the bank’s Swiss Strategy group and a member of the Executive Board for the Swiss division.
The 53-year-old’s appointment is effective October 1, 2020, when he succeeds Daniel Hunziker, who in turn has been appointed the new Head of the Institutional Clients division. For Mendes, the move is the second time he joins the banking giant from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), having previously walked the same path at the turn of the century.
After graduating from the University of St.Gallen in 1994, Mende joined the global strategy consulting firm and spent four years with the consultancy before joining Credit Suisse. During his thirteen year tenure at the bank, he held various roles in strategy development and project management within the firm's wealth management, corporate and retail banking and insurance businesses.
In 2012, he returned to the management consulting industry, and became a Partner and Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group in Zurich. In the role, he advised leading Swiss and international financial institutions on strategy, business transformation, performance improvement, post-merger integration, distribution, product management, pricing, organisation, operations, cost management, technology, and human resources. Internally, Mende was Head of BCG’s Swiss Financial Services practice.
As Head of Strategy for the Swiss division, Mende has been tasked with leading the bank’s domestic corporate strategy, including expansion into new segments, mergers & acquisitions and internal strategic alignment. “We are delighted to have won Martin, a proven strategy expert with extensive experience in the Swiss and international banking sector,” said André Helfenstein, CEO of Credit Suisse.
Daniel Kessler, Managing Partner of BCG in Switzerland, said: “We will miss you, and thank you Martin for all your contributions to the BCG family. We are proud to see you become the new Head of Strategy of Credit Suisse Switzerland.”
The high-profile appointment comes amid major developments at Credit Suisse, including a probe by the Swiss regulator probe into a spying scandal at Credit Suisse, and a heavily debated decision to move the bank’s investment banking hub from London to Madrid.
According to an analysis by Roland Berger, Credit Suisse is with assets of around €680 billion the sixteenth largest bank in Europe.
