KBL European Private Bankers (KBL epb) announced today the appointment of Christoph Thoma – a senior professional with 20 years of HR management experience – as Group Head of Human Resources, based in Luxembourg.

In this newly created position, he will supervise, coordinate and enhance the activities of all HR departments across KBL epb’s nine-country European network.

Most recently, Thoma served as Managing Director and Head of HR Consulting in the Swiss office of Kienbaum, the integrated HR consultancy. Previously, he held the position of Group Head of HR at Bâloise Holding, a specialist financial services provider.

This appointment comes at a time when KBL epb is focused on realizing its vision to become a top 20 European private banking group by 2015. To achieve its ambitious goals, the group is placing particular emphasis on the training and development of its 2,000 staff.

“Working closely with Heads of HR across our network, Christoph Thoma brings senior, strategic perspective to this critical role,” said Yves Stein, Group CEO, KBL epb. 

“Private banking is, quite simply, a people business,” Stein added. “As such, we want to be recognized as a preferred employer for professionals in our industry. That’s also why we are very pleased to welcome Christoph to the group, and are confident that he will make a sustained contribution to our long-term success.”

After beginning his professional career at Unilever in his native Germany, Thoma served at firms such as Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Roche, the global healthcare company. He holds Master’s degrees in both Psychology and Business Administration from the University of Mannheim, Germany.

Thoma will commence his new role at KBL epb on April 1, 2014.