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Yes. All our boutiques have their own distribution specialists, with their own access to all channels. In principle, all portfolio manager can get their products into the distribution pipeline, providing it performs. That way, portfolio managers can generate volume and show what they able to do.

You are a Swiss-based asset manager, it should be a given that you produce in Switzerland.

True, but how many Swiss-based asset managers actually manage to produce in Switzerland and be successful on a global scale?

«More producers would make Switzerland more attractive for asset managers»

Vontobel invested a lot to get specialist come to Switzerland and produce here. Many asset managers come to Switzerland to distribute. There’s a big difference between the two.

The development of the production in Switzerland is a goal of the asset management platform. Do you feel left to fend for your own?

More producers would make Switzerland more attractive for asset managers. Our strategy to produce in Switzerland proves us right…

So others lack the commitment?

Not, if I consider the many innovative and creative Swiss asset managers. But these are relatively small providers whose reach doesn’t go beyond the German-speaking region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). The Swiss asset pools, the Swiss institutional investors, are another aspect…

They are hugely attractive for foreign asset managers…

…exactly. But it seems that Swiss pension funds and insurers opt for foreign products by definition.

«I'm a proponent of a proper consolidation»

I ask myself how to strengthen the Swiss production if Swiss providers don’t get the chance to even advertise their products?

Many really able Swiss asset managers don’t make it into the big asset pools. It is a structural disadvantage that Swiss providers have to register their funds in Luxembourg or Dublin to get a global reach.

Would it be an option to pool the distribution among smaller providers in Switzerland?

Yes, but we would go all the way.

Meaning, you’d buy them?

Yes, I am a proponent of a proper consolidation. I don’t think you can strengthen the financial market by making it a hub for small Swiss asset managers.

«Organic growth always is the top priority»

What size is ideal for a boutique to be considered by Vontobel?

Assets under management of between 7 and 15 billion francs are ideal. That’s typically the critical mass where substantial further investments become inevitable. And, they need to have the potential to reach a volume of about 50 billion in client assets.

There aren’t many such firms in Switzerland.

I’m afraid not, no.

In terms of expansion, you’re basically left to your own devices. What are your next targets?

Organic growth always is the top priority. We aim to grow in a focused and concentrated way in the U.S. We already are well established with the Quality Growth Boutique. But we want to position more strongly our other boutiques, such as Fixed Income and Vescore in the U.S.

We have the strength and quality to be competitive in the U.S. Therefore we will increasingly place our products in the U.S. onshore market in cooperation with partners, such as Virtus. We already have half a dozen portfolio managers for Swiss and London products based in New York. Now we will invest in the distribution.

Axel Schwarzer, 61, has been head of asset management at Vontobel since 2011. The citizen of Germany previously worked for more than two decades at Deutsche Bank, both in private banking and later in asset management.