The CEO of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce joins a U.S. investment bank in Zurich as senior adviser, research by finews.com shows.

Martin Naville has joined U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley in Zurich as a senior adviser. A spokeswoman for the bank confirmed this information when contacted by finews.com. He accepted the mandate alongside his current responsibilities.

Initiator and Sparring Partner

The Swiss citizen is CEO of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, a member of the board of online bank Swissquote, chairman of the Zurich Zoo and the committee for a liberal-minded Zurich.

Naville was a business consultant for 16 years – most recently as a partner – at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). He began his career as a corporate banker with U.S. bank J.P. Morgan in Zurich and New York, and in a sense will now return to his roots. The first contact for this mandate was made last fall through a head hunter.

At Morgan Stanley Naville will acta as sparring partner and adviser on economic and strategic issues, Michael Maag, managing director and head investment banking coverage Switzerland, told finews.com.

Extensive Network

He will also be available to advise on cross-border transactions. During his time at BCG he was involved in several international transactions, Naville told finews.ch. The 59-year-old has an extensive business network and is in a position to win new customers and to open doors for current clients.

He will work for a number of hours per week – it was difficult to be more specific, he said – but «will be available when there is a need for consultancy.» Against this background he will not occupy an office at Morgan Stanley.

Private Banking Sold

Three years ago, Morgan Stanley sold its private banking business in Switzerland to  Bank J. Safra Sarasin, as finews.ch exclusively reported here and here. It was decided to focus on investment banking activities (mergers and acquisitions, listings and other capital market activities) and equity trading and to further expand those businesses, Maag said.

Naville is the first senior adviser appointed by Morgan Stanley in Switzerland. The bank employs a staff of 30 at its Zurich offices.

MA 502

Morgan Stanley is looking back on a good development over the past year. The bank managed a number of capital market transactions (see table). The business year 2018 started equally well and further merger and acquisition transactions are in the pipeline, according to Maag.