(Bloomberg) -- Julius Baer Group Ltd. hired two executives from UBS Group AG in a broad management reshuffle that also positions Chief Operating Officer Nic Dreckmann as potential successor to Chief Executive Officer Philipp Rickenbacher.

Dreckmann will become deputy CEO next year while Thomas Frauenlob, the head of UBS’s global financial intermediaries business, will take over the role as head of intermediaries and family offices when he joins on April 1, Baer said in a statement Monday. 

Sonia Goessi will join from UBS on Jan. 1 to oversee Switzerland and Europe, replacing Yves Robert-Charrue, who will leave the firm. Robert-Charrue was seen as a potential CEO candidate before losing out to Rickenbacher in 2019. Both Frauenlob and Goessi join Baer’s executive board.

The new setup is “the optimal structure to fuel Julius Baer’s ability to capitalize on the growth opportunities in the wealth management industry,” Rickenbacher said in the statement. 

Four years in the role, the CEO is targeting $1 trillion in assets managed for wealthy clients as he seeks to position Baer as the main rival to UBS, which cemented its dominant position with the takeover Credit Suisse this year. To help reach that goal, Rickenbacher expects to make 200 gross hires this year, the largest hiring spree since Baer’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch’s international wealth business in 2012.

Rickenbacher had spent the early part of his tenure cleaning up problems in Latin America, cutting 5% of the workforce and revising banker pay to tie it more closely to profitability. He also cut down on the number of regional divisions and executive board members. 

In a reversal of that slim-down, Baer announced on Monday that it’s creating two new business regions. India, including on- and offshore clients, the Middle East and Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Israel, Greece and Turkey will be part of emerging markets. Iberia is being split from Europe and joined with the Americas, which is primarily Latin America since Baer doesn’t do wealth management in the US. 

Other changes announced Monday include:

  • Beatriz Sanchez to step down from executive board and become chair of Americas
  • Carlos Recoder Miralles to run Americas & Iberia, joins executive board
  • Rahul Malhotra to oversee emerging markets, joins executive board
  • Sandra Niethen to run client strategy & experience, joins executive board
  • Guido Ruoss named Chief Human Resources Officer & Corporate Affairs, joins executive board
  • Christoph Hiestand to remain Group General Counsel, joins executive board

(Updates with details on new regions and executive board additions.)

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