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Newly-licensed Quintet wants to bulk up on as many as 25 private bankers in Switzerland by year-end, Swiss head Emmanuel Fievet tells finews.com.

Emanuel Fievet, what will Quintet’s Swiss bank focus on?

We will focus on Swiss residents, but also international clients in high-growth regions: the Middle East, Latin America, Asia. We will also build a bridge with the UK, where we believe there are going to be closer ties with Switzerland in the years to come and want to capitalize on them.

What makes Quintet any different from the other private banks in Switzerland?

We're not aiming for a Nobel Prize in innovation. We believe our size will be a strength, as will our alignment and culture of collaboration.

«Qatar's al-Thani family injected another 112 million euros»

We have the ingredients we believe necessary to be successful: an experienced team with a commitment to making an impact. We are private, independent with the backing of a committed shareholder who recently injected another 112 million euros into the parent bank.

What do you mean by alignment?

A lot of organizations struggle to deliver on their purpose because of internal complexity or the wrong culture. If you work for a larger organization, you may have to manage internal forces like that. Our mission is to deliver to clients and focus on their needs.

You’re embarking on Switzerland without Juerg Zeltner, a legendary Swiss banker who spearheaded the project and who commanded enormous loyalty.

Juerg's death was tragic. But he left us with a great gift: he built a team that is there by design. We’re all here because we believe in this project.

You’re entering the Swiss market in a huge storm. How do you expect to win clients?

Social distancing obviously makes that hard, but technology means it’s far from impossible. For now, we’ll rely a lot more on calls, tools like Teams – whatever secure channel works best for the client. But we also know this storm will pass.

Quintet has recruited very heavily from UBS. Is it culturally UBS 2.0, in miniature?

The last thing we want to do is be a mini-UBS. So if you don't feel comfortable at a smaller, boutique-type organization, then you should probably stay where you are.

«The foundation is built, now we need private bankers»

Time will tell, though, and it’s not always obvious if people can adapt to a different environment.

You want to hire about 40 more people in Switzerland by year-end. How many of those will be private bankers?

The vast majority. I'm very happy with the work my predecessor did building the foundation of our bank from the middle and back. Now, the focus is on hiring the right professionals for our key markets.