The twentieth birthday did not bring luck to Kairos, a leading asset management and private banking company, which for some years has been fully controlled by Julius Baer, the third largest Swiss bank.
After a harsh internal settlement of accounts, the CEO of Kairos, Fabio Bariletti, has decided to leave his office, announcing his resignation from the company in which he has been a leading figure for twenty years. He will be replaced ad interim by the seventy-year-old Fabrizio Rindi, former chairman of Kairos Sgr, while a more powerful role is destined to be assumed by the financier-man of letters Guido Maria Brera, also known in the worldly news as the husband of the actress Caterina Balivo.
Julius Baer had decided some time ago to change his strategy and put Kairos up for sale, but the war within the Milanese company warned and alienated potential buyers, including Mediobanca and some foreign private equity funds, who gradually defiled.
As a result, Julius Baer has decided to reverse his strategy once again and withdraw Kairos from the market, which will no longer be sold. Alternatively, the Swiss are now thinking of a "closer alliance" between Julius Baer and Kairos in the asset management business which - as stated in a statement released yesterday by the bank of Zurich - "will include wider access to products and services within the asset management by Julius Baer”.
"Our strategic review - commented Yves Robert Charrue, Europe manager of Bank Julius Baer and president of Kairos - has clearly demonstrated that Julius Baer is the best possible owner for Kairos". The truth is that no buyers were found and that the Swiss had to make the best of a bad luck with a sensational backtracking.
