New head of IR at award-winning Itaú Unibanco

Rogério Calderón, head of investor relations at Itaú Unibanco, is set to step down after six years in the role, reveals Brazil’s largest bank by market size.

Calderón, currently responsible for IR and international finance, will officially step down on April 30 – following a ‘transition period’ – in order ‘to pursue other professional activities’, according to a statement released by Itaú.

The bank also names Calderón’s successor as Marcelo Kopel, a finance veteran with more than 25 years’ experience in the industry. Kopel has previously served at Redecard – acquired by Itaú in 2012 – as well as Citibank, Credicard and the Brazilian arms of ING and Bank of America, adds Itaú.

Calderón joins Itaú following another of the bank’s acquisitions. Before heading up IR at Itaú’s São Paulo headquarters, he was an executive at União de Bancos Brasileiros, which Itaú bought at the end of 2008 in what remains Brazil’s largest bank merger to date.

‘Although Itaú Unibanco's IR team is already a mature, well-structured and very cohesive team with a high performance level, I believe it will be very refreshing for Kopel to lead this team considering the constant new challenges that arise,’ comments Calderón. ‘The consistency of the information released to the market, the new regulatory framework (ie BIS II) and the continuously increasing demand for information and meetings by market players, are the main challenges that Kopel will have to address.’

Kopel, who will be introduced to the investor and analyst community once the transition period is complete, will have a positive story to tell investors. The bank’s most recent quarterly report, released at the start of this month, revealed record profits (excluding one-off items) of R$4.68 bn ($1.95 bn) for the last three months, representing a 16.4 percent increase on the previous quarter. Reuters quoted a client note from Credit Suisse Securities analyst Marcelo Telles as saying the fourth quarter results ‘confirm Itaú is turning the business around very successfully.’

Roberto Setubal, Itaú’s CEO since 1994, told a news conference at the time that the firm was ‘reaping what we sowed in recent years. We are prepared to grow in a consistent, sustainable way going forward.’

‘The IR function at Itaú Unibanco is a world class organization, and it is a privilege to succeed Calderón as the head of IR,’ says Kopel. ‘One of the opportunities I believe we can further explore is investor targeting and being able to customize our approach among the different investor groups (eg SRIs).’