AlixPartners poaches Head of Roland Berger Switzerland
The Managing Partner of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in Switzerland, Beatrix Morath, has decided to leave the firm to join rival AlixPartners. Morath will commence her work for AlixPartners in October, in the role of Managing Director, and be based in Zurich.
After graduating from Fachhochschule Pforzheim (Germany) / Hanzehogeschool Groningen (The Netherlands), Beatrix Morath started her career in the banking industry. She first completed a traineeship program at Deutsche Bank, and then worked for two years in the field of Corporate Banking. In September 1997 she moved into the consulting industry, and choose for Roland Berger. At the German strategy consulting firm, Morath – who specialises in restructuring and management consulting – quickly grew through the ranks. In 2001 she was appointed to partner and six years later to senior partner.
Over the past 10+ years the senior partner – Morath moved to Switzerland in 2001 – played a key role in building the Swiss office of Roland Berger, to its current size of roughly 70 employees. In her last role she was Managing Partner of the Swiss operations, a position which she fulfilled since 2012. That period has now come to an end – as of the 1st of October Morath has decided to embark on a new challenge and join counterpart AlixPartners. Fred Crawford, CEO of AlixPartners, is not surprisingly pleased with the hiring of the experienced consultant. “Beatrix brings deep skills and expertise that fit perfectly with what our clients need.”
Next to her work for Roland Berger / AlixPartners, Morath is on the Advisory Board of the Department of Economics at the University of Zurich and serves on the supervisory board of the Lienhard Office Group, a leading family-owned manufacturer and supplier of office furniture.
Rivalry
The move by AlixPartners is yet another recent example of the intensifying (senior-level) talent rivalry between consulting firms in the Germanic (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) restructuring landscape. Two months ago AlixPartners poached yet another Roland Berger senior partner; Joost Geginat, who previously also served as co-chairman of the firm. And early 2014 McKinsey & Company hired seven senior restructuring experts* from Roland Berger in Germany, in line with McKinsey’s strategic objective to grow its Restructuring service offerings across Europe. Roland Berger itself has also not stood still, it too has attracted several high-ranked consultants from tier-1 rivals, and in terms of size in the Germanic market, it still lies ahead of its key competitors such as strategy consultants and restructuring experts.
Roland Berger Switzerland
The gap left by the departure of Morath will jointly be taken over by the Swiss Management Team, which consists of Sven Siepen, Matthias Hanke, Philipp Angehrn and Michael Wette (who just returned to Switzerland after a period in the Middle-East).
* Four partners (Max Falkenberg, Nils Kuhlwein von Rathenow, Klaus Kremers and Timo Kamp) and three Principals.