The Genevan boutique is aiming to add $1 billion in assets from a push into German-speaking Switzerland, CEO Patrick Heritier told finews.com.
Pleion is opening a Zurich office to focus on Swiss as well as international clients, with emphasis on Asia, CEO Patrick Heritier told finews.com. The new offices are a bid to lift Pleion’s assets from German-speaking Switzerland to more than $1 billion.
The independent Genevan asset manager is one of many seeking growth by spilling over the «roesti ditch», an imaginary but highly symbolic border between Switzerland's German- and French-speaking regions. Pleion is also looking at dealmaking to bolster its $1.5 billion asset base, as finews.com reported in April.
Enlisting UBS Vet
Heritier said he has already hired two people in Zurich, and is looking to add more. «Sharing our vision and a cultural fit are key in our hiring process,» Heritier said. Last month, Marc Wagner, a long-standing UBS banker to the ultra-rich, joined its board to help its strategy in German-speaking Switzerland.
«Our plan over five years is to have a similar operation in the German-language region as we do in the French,» Heritier said. «We intend to grow, and given the interest we see in the market, we might be quicker than originally planned.»
Monaco Break-Even
The privately-held wealth manager also earlier this year opened an office in Monaco, where it employs 10 people and expects to break even by mid-2020. Heriter, a veteran of UBS and Julius Baer, has rapidly expanded Pleion since taking over two years ago.
