Anyone in the financial world even appearing to be in business with Russians faces scrutiny and rejection. In light of that, a prominent team at Zug-based asset manager is realigning itself.
St. Gotthard Fund Management in Zug is rebranding itself, subject to regulatory approval, as St. Gotthard Wealth. The firm, founded in 2019 and led by a team of prominent ex-bankers, announced to its clients «we believe that our new name better represents the mission of our company.»
No Routine Rebranding
Google becomes Alphabet. Facebook is now Meta. Brand changes happen all the time, but this one is different. «Due to geopolitical developments with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, St. Gotthard Wealth decided to reposition its focus and service offering with a stronger emphasis on Switzerland, Europe, and selected emerging markets, and away from Eastern Europe,» the firm said.
As it turns out, the company was stigmatized since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Sergey Radchenko, a wealthy Russian, wanted to set up a family office in Switzerland for his liquid portfolio holdings. He succeeded in finding two well-known financial professionals in Stefan Bollhalder, former Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the former Falcon Private Bank, and Daniel Egger, former CIO of private bank Maerki Baumann.
Eastward Focus
An agreement was reached to open the platform to third parties and to launch it as an independent asset manager. At the beginning of the year, St. Gotthard Wealth acquired a license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma), which is required starting in 2023. From the outset, the focus was on Eastern Europe, where the company could count on the network of its founder, and the Middle East.
Servicing these regions proved challenging starting beginning in 2020 as Corona restrictions massively curbed travel, effectively leaving the team grounded. As restrictions loosened this year, the opportunity for acquisition finally presented itself. Since February, however, St. Gotthard Wealth encountered unexpected obstacles following sanctions against Kremlin-affiliated Russian companies and individuals with custodian banks becoming reluctant to do business.
The R-Word Surfaces
This fits with the reputation the authorities charged with monitoring sanctions have gotten when the R-word, i.e. Russia, is used, leaving players in the Swiss financial market keeping their distance. This is completely independent of whether a Russian person is actually on a sanctions list or has a passport from another country. The same caution applies to the job market for sought-after client advisors.
It seems of little consequence that Bollhalder and Egger's team managed to make profits with some of their investment strategies in what has been a difficult year in the financial markets. Currently, the financial boutique manages less than 100 million francs with a core team of three.
«Exclusively Swiss»
Hence the rebranding. Founder, majority shareholder, and chairman Radchenko decided to leave the company's board of directors together with Igor Vishnevskiy, with Bollhalder slotting into the role of chairman. Subject to Finma's approval, René Kurmann and Daniel Gerber join the board.
«The board of directors now consists exclusively of Swiss nationals, and the executive board is also made up exclusively of Swiss nationals," St. Gotthard Wealth expressly states.
The company hopes that this will enable it to pull the growth lever after years of delays from external factors. The wealth manager seeks to grow particularly in emerging markets, for which is seeking «entrepreneurial client advisors.»
Other asset managers are welcome to join the firm and benefit from its Finma license and are also looking for investors to participate with capital.
