Born in Zurich and educated in Paris, Suzanne Syz is a renowned jewelry designer. She recently joined the board of directors of her husband Eric Syz's bank. In their first joint interview, they talk about their plans and expectations.

Last February, Eric Syz announced he was stepping down from his operational role to focus on the group's strategy and clients, thereby opening space for his two sons, Marc and Nicolas, to take on prominent roles in the bank's leadership. At the beginning of this year, Suzanne Syz, his wife, made a more discrete move when joining the bank's board of directors.

Originally co-founded by three partners, Syz Bank has gradually become a family business. Succession may seem like a thorny issue. Do the heirs want to take over the business? Do they have the qualifications to do so? A meeting in their Geneva headquarters with Eric and Suzanne Syz in the Wolfgang Tillmans room, named after the famous German photographer whose two major works «inhabit» the space.

Suzanne Syz, your professional career lies completely outside the field of finance. How do you see your role on the bank's board of directors?

Suzanne Syz: Banking is a new universe for me, and like jewelry, it is closed off to women, who have a hard time making a name for themselves. Since I created and managed my own jewelry company, I am no stranger to the challenges faced in business.

«My wife steers us back to the fundamental reason for our business's existence»

I am surely «in training» in the financial world, but like any good Swiss-German, I am fully committed. I read reports from the first to the last line and ask all the questions... the ones that nobody else does. My position allows me to express things the way I see them. It is a strength.

Is it hard to have your wife on the board of directors?

Eric Syz: We should have brought Suzanne on the board years ago... But it would have never crossed my mind to bring in someone with experience so distant from ours, were she not my wife.

We usually call upon people from the industry because they have «good instincts.» In reality, they are often pre-programmed by their business experience. My wife asks relevant and challenging questions: those that a client would ask. She steers us back to the fundamental reason for our business's existence.

Your two sons have not had leadership roles until recently, at 37 for Marc and 34 for Nicolas. Why didn't you start them in the business sooner?

Suzanne Syz: We didn't want to fall into the traditional pattern of forcing children to follow in their father's footsteps. You need passion to be successful. Although Marc got into finance early, that was not the case for Nicolas, who, ever since his time working at Firmenich, loves perfumes.

«Working for Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS, showed him that finance can be creative, too»

Eric Syz: Forcing leads to suffering. And yet, in a world based on meritocracy, children still need to be fit to carry the torch. It is better to be a good doctor than a second-rate banker. Marc indeed entered finance early, but Nicolas came around too. Working for Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS, showed him that finance can be creative, too.

For now, Yvan Gaillard has stepped into your shoes as the bank's CEO. Will Nicolas take on that role later?

Eric Syz: What drives Nicolas, and what he learned from his experience at UBS, is taking care of clients and structuring services together with our different teams. Being CEO involves taking care of many administrative issues that would keep him today from having enough time to do what he does best. On top of that, private banking clients feel that speaking with someone whose name is on the door of the bank is very reassuring. It is a sign of stability, tradition, which is quite welcome by clients who are often entrepreneurs themselves.

«My sons will go through good times and rough patches, just like I did because every entrepreneur does»

With Nicolas and Marc on board, we are also signaling to our customers and employees that our company is a long-term concern. My sons will go through good times and rough patches, just like I did because every entrepreneur does. Our new generation certainly has their work cut out, but both of us, my wife and I, see that besides having the experience necessary for taking on these responsibilities, they are full of energy, have sensible ideas and make good decisions.

With Syz Capital, you have embarked on a new adventure. Would you have tried this without your son Marc?

We would have otherwise taken a tack towards private equity because our clientele has a demand for it, but the plan Marc put forward won the board of directors over. Direct investment is really his area of expertise.

«They have been immersed in the art world since they were young»

He has been working on it for many years and the principle of his approach is quite different from what is done elsewhere because Syz Capital enters as a lead investor in the companies it chooses to invest in. What he is building is long-term thanks to the one or two transactions per year with unlisted companies in which clients are invited to invest. Far away from the pressure of financial markets.

Are your children as passionate about art as you are? Will they continue the collection you have built together?

Suzanne Syz: They have been immersed in the art world since they were young, and they are very interested in it. However, we have not brought them into the fold regarding the decisions we make on our three-person team with Nicolas Trembley, the curator of the collection. It is a matter to be considered at some point in the future.


Nicolette 193The interview was conducted in collaboration with finews.ch by Nicolette de Joncaire, editor-in-chief of the financial website «Allnews» in French-speaking Switzerland since August 2017. Before entering journalism, she worked for more than 25 years in the financial sector in Geneva and London. She completed her studies with a master's degree in economics from the University of Paris.