By Margot Patrick

Credit Suisse Group AG's new chief executive unveiled a plan to combine most of the Swiss lender's fragmented trading and investment-banking businesses, his first strategic move since he took the helm six months ago.

Thomas Gottstein, who was appointed CEO after Tidjane Thiam was ousted following a spying scandal, said the move is aimed at freeing up cash to invest across Credit Suisse's businesses but doesn't mark a fundamental shift in the bank's ambitions.

"We don't want to shrink to greatness, we want to invest and grow," Mr. Gottstein said in an interview. "There are certain structural elements that could be improved, and fragmentation that needed to be addressed."

Credit Suisse, one of the world's largest managers of rich people's money, competes with larger rivals such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley in investment banking, although it drastically shrank the size of the unit in a restructuring under Mr. Thiam between 2015 and 2018.

The new investment-banking arm will comprise the divisions previously known as investment banking and capital markets, global markets and the Asia-Pacific markets business, which had operated separately before. Separate investment-banking arms will continue to be housed in Credit Suisse's Asia-Pacific division and Swiss bank.

Mr. Gottstein said Credit Suisse would continue allocating around two-thirds of its capital to wealth management and one-third to the investment bank, a mix that began under Mr. Thiam to move the bank away from a reliance on more volatile markets-trading revenue and focus on its wealthy clients. The new CEO said the bank will look to save around 400 million Swiss francs ($438 million) a year from 2022 to reinvest in Asia and elsewhere, in part by shedding jobs.

Mr. Gottstein declined to give an overall figure regarding job cuts but said some duplicated roles would go. He noted that the bank's head count has risen this year because of a lack of attrition during the pandemic and may need to come down to keep the bank on track to meet its financial targets.

The restructuring was announced as Credit Suisse posted a 24% rise in second-quarter net profit, driven by higher revenue in investment banking and capital markets, which benefited from a surge in companies issuing stock and bonds in the period.

Like rival UBS Group AG, Credit Suisse has performed better than many European and global banks in navigating the pandemic, largely because of its focus on lending to households and companies in Switzerland, which lifted restrictions faster than other countries, and the world's wealthy.

Net profit rose to 1.16 billion francs, from 937 million francs in the second quarter of 2019. The bank took 296 million francs in loan-loss provisions, less than the 568 million francs taken in the first quarter in anticipation of soured loans.

Revenue in Credit Suisse's investment-banking and capital-markets unit rose 61%, driven by sharp rises in equity and debt underwriting. Its global markets business also posted a revenue rise and reported a 71% gain in pretax profit for the quarter.

Pretax profit rose 26% in its Asia business, which includes markets and investment banking in the region, and rose 5% in its Swiss bank. International wealth-management profit fell 22% in the second quarter, reflecting higher credit charges.

Chief Financial Officer David Mathers said the bank is well positioned for economic stress from the pandemic, with more than half of its loan book in Switzerland, which has been relatively cushioned during the global economic downturn. The flip side, Mr. Gottstein said, is that the Swiss franc has been a haven for investors and strengthened against other currencies. That affects reported revenue in the wealth-management unit, since many customer accounts are in dollars, euros or the Brazilian real.

The restructuring will cost around 300 million to 400 million Swiss francs, Credit Suisse said, and the bank expects the move will help it reduce costs by around 400 million francs a year from 2022.

Mr. Gottstein said the bank's return on tangible equity was 12% in the first half, higher than its 10% target, "confirming the resilience of our integrated business model as a leading wealth manager with strong global investment banking capabilities."

Write to Margot Patrick at margot.patrick@wsj.com