The Genevan private bank wanted to migrate onto an Avaloq technology platform, but the plan has fizzled, finews.com has learned. Banque Syz is paying dearly for the decision.
After a setback last year, family-controlled Banque Syz is on track for a more favorable annual result, founder and CEO Eric Syz told finews.com. However, this year's net profit will be «roughly on par with last year,» he said.
Last year, Syz's net profit fell to 3.4 million Swiss francs ($3.4 million) from 9 million in 2016, as finews.com reported. Once again, an «extraordinary» factor will sour the result.
Avaloq vs Lombard Odier
Syz is making another major IT investment after an original plan to migrate to Avaloq fell through, the CEO said. «We're now planning to migrate onto Lombard Odier's platform,» he said.
The change of heart translates to a double-digit million write-down for Syz this year. «Exasperating,» Syz said of the end of his bank's cooperation with Avaloq. The Swiss banker didn't lay the blame for the cooperation at Avaloq's feet: both sides had underestimated the challenges going in, Syz said.
But, «as owner of the bank and entrepreneur, I was able to quickly decide – a huge advantage of our structure,» he said. The 61-year-old recently forged his retirement plans, which involve his sons, Marc and Nicolas, as finews.com reported exclusively.
Awkward for Avaloq
For Avaloq, the lost contrast comes as the software firm struggles to meet deadlines on a massive migration with Raiffeisen. The move has absorbed resources at Avaloq, where founder and Chairman Francisco Fernandez and private equity investor Warburg Pincus are updating and institutionalizing the at time free-wheeling firm's ways.
Avaloq's loss is Lombard Odier's gain: the Genevan private bank has successfully built out an IT arm aimed at its smaller rivals in recent years. Lombard Odier, Syz said, has «one of the best front-facing systems for wealth management.»
