I am always good on timing. I remember sitting in my office on the Monday after the Lehman bailout just thinking, «oh my goodness». I took over portfolio management responsibility in March 2009 – a difficult time.
What’s been your biggest achievement since then?
In Switzerland, we put in place an investment committee, which meets weekly to decide on strategy. We have 10 voting investment committee members around the table, including colleagues from the private bank.
«Honestly, if you can get people on board, it goes very quickly»
We are co-responsible for the decision and of course the result.
What’s your next goal?
Our objective now is to develop and generalize this approach for Europe. We are working on having our portfolio managers in Luxembourg, Spain, the U.K., and France to discuss the investment process together with their colleagues in Switzerland.
How long will this take?
Honestly, if you can get people on board, it goes very quickly. I think it’s good not to force people to do things, but to co-opt people into the process, sit down with them and work together.
Is Mirabaud a viable size to tackle this investment project vs giants like Blackrock or other banks like UBS?
You cannot compare Mirabaud to giants like UBS. We remain on a human scale and offer our clients tailor-made services within a boutique spirit. Our values include excellence and creativity.
«We will revisit Asia in coming years»
I think that at group level we must have one philosophy and one investment process. Will it be applied exactly the same way everywhere? Probably not. Ask me again in one year’s time and I will give you a progress update.
Where does Mirabaud want to expand?
We think we can do a lot where we are now. Our focus markets are Switzerland, the U.K., France, Spain, Belgium, parts of Latin America, and Dubai. There is a bigger probability that we open a new office in a market we work with, than opening something in Asia.
Why not in Asia – the fastest-growing wealth market?
I am not saying that we do not want to expand in Asia; we are rather focused on where we want to grow. We are currently too small to cover everything, but might revisit the Asia question in three or five years.
Can you tell me about what your younger clients are asking for?
You can’t make a rule out of one example, but a young woman told me philanthropy is very important to her. She wants to work with a bank which is doing the same with its money. This is becoming more and more important for our clients.
But Mirabaud isn’t a charitable organization.
