A 40-year-old Geneva-based family office is opening a Zurich arm following a management buyout last year. The existing partners are planning for the long-term.
Accuro said it is opening a representative office in Zurich, hiring Kripa Sethuraman as its head of family office in the Swiss finance hub. The firm exists since the mid-70s, when it was founded in Geneva and Jersey.
It has gone through several incarnations since then, including as Investec’s trust arm and as part of Salamanca Group, a U.K. boutique investment and advisory firm. Last year, nine Accuro partners bought out Salamanca for an undisclosed price. The partners under CEO Xavier Isaac (pictured below) own 70 percent. The remaining 30 percent belong to Alexander Ospelt, a securities lawyer in Liechtenstein.
Partner-Run
The partners, largely under 50 years of age, intend to retain and build Accuro’s business for the long-term organically. Accuro said the Zurich offers significant prospects for wealth and estate planning from families with assets looking for trust services across borders.
«This expansion will include the continued broadening and diversifying of Accuro’s proposition into non-fiduciary services by providing ongoing support to wealth owners, family office executives and their advisors in key areas of asset reporting, administration and consolidation as well as risk and project management,» Accuro said in a statement.
African Gateway
Sethuranam, who will lead the Zurich family office, was previously with Quilvest in Switzerland and an international partner at the Family Office Exchange, or FOX. She is a London School of Economics and Georgetown University graduate.
Besides Geneva and Jersey, Accuro also maintains an office in Mauritius, which it uses as a gateway for African investment. The owner-partners are Isaac, Paul Douglas, Marc Pullman, Michael Giraud, Simon Hart, Natacha Onawelho-Loren, Gordon Stuart, Leila Pillonel and David Howes.
