Erich Pfister: «Difficult, But Not Impossible»

Does that mean you're focusing on very wealthy clients?

Not only. At some banks, offshore clients with less than $5 million don't have a personal adviser anymore. That's definitely not the case with us.

In Zurich, Oddo BHF works out of the same space as a family office. Isn't that a conflict of interest for the bank? 

We have the same set-up in our Paris and Frankfurt headquarters. We don't have a conflict because family office clients don't have to be clients of the bank – even if we would wish for it.

What about a digital offering for sophisticated clients?

The most important thing for me right now is that the Swiss business runs smoothly on its own solid platform. Despite the continual development and digitization of our platform, the digital element isn't our predominant concern right now.  

Why now?

We're rarely the first bank for our clients. That means they come to us for good wealth management and access to exclusive investment opportunities. We're less interested in clients who want execution services, and digital wealth management is especially interesting for those clients.

On our targets, it is almost impossible to grow organically in Swiss banking.

It's difficult, but not impossible. I'm privileged to say that Oddo BHF is really good at a few things on the investment side. Our clientele is satisfied, which helps our reputation. The family office business has benefited from this. We're still at the beginning of our build-up and are continuously tweaking our strategy.

In what direction?

Let me give you an example: because of our investment expertise, we are fielding more inquiries from prospective clients primarily interested in our wealth management services. The transfer of assets to another custodian bank is too time-consuming for many of them. We operate as an independent asset manager for these clients, which is appealing to them in terms of fees.

Surely you will also consider mergers and acquisitions?

That's a question of opportunity. Philippe Oddo is receptive to acquisitions if they make strategic sense.

And that would be...?

We want to use our offshore expertise to expand in other markets. Our focus is on the Middle East, among other places, where the group maintains a representative office in Abu Dhabi führt. An expansion through acquiring teams or a bank is also an option. 

Erich Pfister was hired by Oddo BHF just over one year ago to build its Swiss wealth management. Trained as a lawyer, Pfister was previously responsible for Falcon Private Bank's wealth activities and spent several years in senior wealth roles with Credit Suisse and Clariden Leu.