Vontobel names new head of private equity

The private equity arm of Vontobel Group, Private Equity Holdings, has named Dominik Meyer as its new chief executive.

Meyer was previously an investment advisor with the E1.96m private equity business and has been with the group for several years. His colleague Ulrich Geilinger has also been promoted to the position of deputy chief executive.

Meyer replaces Hans-Peter Bachmann, the former deputy chief executive and corporate finance chief. Bachmann, chief executive Jorg Fischer, and Walter Kaiser, chief financial officer, were sacked earlier this month in connection with the bank's internet banking business that ran up losses of Sfr300m. The bank also discovered irregularities in its corporate finance department, which had been Switzerland's leading manager for high-tech IPOs.

Commenting on his new role, Meyer said: “We have three products up and running already which have been successful. Our first priority is to develop these funds. We certainly are planning to develop other products to expand geographically, but they are in early stages of development.”

Private Equity Holdings comprises three businesses: a venture capital fund, a late stage fund for investing in companies close to flotation, and an eastern Europe specialist fund called 5E [Excellence in Eastern European Emerging Equity]. The private equity business has Sfr3bn worth of capital committed by investors and Sfr1.6bn of assets under management.