A former Credit Suisse banker is launching a luxury version of the shared economy, finews.com has learned. He appears to be flirting with financing's hottest method right now – a coin offering.
Marco Abele ran Credit Suisse’s digital bank until last year, when he was replaced by Anke Bridge in a reorganization.
Since his employment at the Swiss bank ended in August, 48-year-old Abele has been quietly working on a project that lifts off this week, finews.com has learned. The banker has founded Tend in Zug, a fintech firm which will house a luxury platform.
The idea is to tap into affluent and wealthy clients’ increasing desire for experiences, not things, a source close to Tend said. The byword is, «investing in yourself» – driving a 1973 Porsche Carrera or accompanying a concert pianist from rehearsal to concert hall.
ICO Planned?
Details of Abele’s plans to fund the venture are unclear. At least nine social media posts this week from an account named «TendSwiss» included references to an initial coin offering or ICO and a token sale. The references were removed when finews.com asked a public relations firm working for Abele to explain them.
True to his digital roots, Abele is matching up the Ethereum-based platform with luxury experiences. Clients buy tokens entitling them to draw experiences from one of four categories – classic cars, fine art and culture, watches, and vineyards.
The platform is planned to launch next spring, the person close to TEND said. The experience tokens don’t expire, and are meant to gain in value, just as prices for physical assets like jewelry and art have surged in recent years as asset returns dried up.
Asset-Light Swiss Focus
The firm doesn’t want to own luxury assets – instead, TEND wants to partner with auction houses, vineyards, luxury watchmakers and car dealerships for access to art or classic cars.
According to the person, Abele is starting in Switzerland before looking at expanding the service overseas. He envisions building employee ranks slowly from less than ten in his first year to roughly 20 in the 2019. His is counting on his stellar connections in order to leverage outside experts for specific projects, not take on full-time Zurich-based staff.
