Former banker Mara Harvey is enjoying her new role as head of Switzerland at Liechtenstein-based VP Bank. Financial groups may be structured like a giant clockwork, but often sand gets into the gears. She tells finews.com she sees market disillusionment due to Credit Suisse.

Mara Harvey, last year you founded an online platform to help parents teach their children how to handle money. The offering is called «A Smart Way to Start» - would that also be a smart way to start the conversation?

I have to warn you that we run the risk of spending the next hour talking only about this one topic.

Financial literacy is important to you. Why do you feel it's your job to teach financial literacy to children and young people? Isn't that what schools are for?

I came to the topic of financial literacy after looking at gender equality - in particular, why women handle finances and assets differently. As it turns out, men talk about money very differently than women, which starts in early childhood. By the time a girl or boy is seven years old, their approach to finances is largely solidified.

So school starts too late?

Of course, schools can teach the theory early on. But five- to seven-year-olds learn in advance through observation and imitation, not from abstract concepts. Accordingly, the role of parents is crucial. I'd therefore like to help mothers and fathers take advantage of a golden opportunity to form robust behavior in dealing with finances.

You've written a whole series of children's books on the subject while having a stellar career in private banking. Where did you find the time?

I never planned to write children's books. In 2017, I was supposed to participate in a roundtable with female leaders in Davos, but I got sick and had to watch it from the couch.

«You never give up on something you've grown so fond of»

When the conversation turned to finances, the moderator quoted the title of a well-known children's book by Dr. Seuss. That struck a chord with me.

In what way?

We need nursery rhymes on the subject of money! From the couch, I started typing the first verses into my smartphone. Four hours later, the draft of the first book was ready. Of course, it still takes a lot of work to put it into reality, let alone a whole series of picture books.

Since the beginning of the year, you've been working as the head of the Swiss subsidiary bank of the Liechtenstein VP Bank Group. Does that leave you time for this project?

You never give up something you've grown so fond of. My small startup now has an operational management team working from the UK. The rest is done by freelancers since I can only spend about an hour and a half a week on the project myself. Because it's an online offering, I'm not the bottleneck.

At VP Bank you've been making the decisions since the beginning of the year. How did you get started as the new CEO?

I love my work here. It's wonderful to arrive in a smaller organization after having worked in very large companies for so long. Corporations may be structured like a giant clockwork, but often enough, sand gets into the gears. A lot can be achieved in a smaller company with a bit more structure, without ever fearing that you will be slowed down. Everything's smaller, and more agile, with decisions being made more quickly.

Is that your mission at VP Bank: to give structure to the Swiss business?

That's what I'd like to do. Of course, I don't want to say in any way that there were no structures before me and that the bank wasn't managed professionally. On the contrary. But we can take the business to the next level together provided we focus on the essentials.

What's essential?

We redefined our target markets. You'll know that until recently we had quite a large Russian business, but we no longer want to do that. On the other hand, Germany is an important market for us.

«The promise of 'back to basics' is gaining traction»

We'll vigorously develop this. We need to become even more professional in areas where we already have expertise.

What are the specific areas of focus for the Swiss bank?

The Europe region, for which I am responsible, contributes about a third of the Group's earnings, with around 60 percent of that coming from Switzerland, and the remaining 40 percent from Luxembourg. In volume terms, the Swiss business is divided equally between the business with independent asset managers and private banking, primarily with foreign clients. Looking ahead, we want to focus on the local platform for financial intermediaries.

Given the merger of the big banks, this could be a good time to do so...

Indeed. Some people are disillusioned about the developments at Credit Suisse. We're hearing from asset managers and private clients alike that they're considering depositing at least some of their assets with a small, stable private bank. We can't offer all the services of a big bank, and we're certainly not «fancy.» But what we do, we do well and provide a very personalized service. The promise of «back to basics» is gaining traction.

How much traction?

I'm very pleased with how business has developed beginning the second half of the year. We haven't experienced a summer slump, and our clients have been pretty active.

Tom Meier, VP Bank Group chairman, hopes the firm will benefit from asset inflows from former Credit Suisse clients.

Has that hope already been fulfilled?

We can't expect quick success. But we are holding talks that could lead to inflows in the medium term. It was the case that during the hot phase at Credit Suisse, clients shifted funds to banks with which they already had a relationship. Usually, these were cantonal banks or the Raiffeisen Group. Now that the dust is settling, the strategic considerations begin - namely, where to manage the assets over the longer term. This is where we come in.

After 21 years, you left UBS last fall. When you see the integration of Credit Suisse is creating the world's second-largest private bank, don't you feel you're missing out?

Not at all. I've been involved in mergers and integrations several times in my career. With every merger, the organization involved is busy with itself for at least 18 months. The management of UBS now expects four years of integration. Life's too short to spend four years dealing with yourself.

Why did you leave UBS?

At the time, I wanted to devote myself entirely to my financial literacy project and didn't hear from VP Bank until later. But at the end of my time at UBS, I had the feeling there was more to be done to focus on clients.

«A huge amount of hype developed around the topic of agility»

If I can make one accusation about the entire financial industry it's that everyone keeps the customer focused on their presentations and their websites. The reality is the industry is focused on advising customers, not on the customers themselves. And some of the structures are cumbersome.

UBS in particular wants to become an agile organization...

A huge amount of hype developed around the topic of agility which, in theory, all sounds great. In large organizations, there are vast areas that, despite all these efforts, are far removed from client focus.

And that's not the case at VP Bank?

That was one of the things that convinced me to take the position. The backbone of the bank, its systems, and processes,  have been transformed in recent years to better meet the needs of clients. To put it into perspective, in the old banking world, there's a pyramid where IT forms the base and determines processes on how customers are treated. We're now turning it on its head by starting from our clientele and providing the processes needed to meet customer needs from there. But that's much more complex to implement than it sounds.

Doesn't that overburden a small firm like VP?

No. Precisely because the Group is small enough that costs don't grow out of control.

Despite technological changes, private banking is still a people's business. From your time at UBS, you build a network of super-rich Europeans. Can you draw on that?

We're not a bank for the super-rich, especially if they still need investment banking services. But of course, I receive requests from my network, and we help where we can. Thanks to our fund company in Luxembourg, we're able to offer customized fund solutions. Our Open Wealth approach offers very good opportunities to respond flexibly to our clients' needs. That flexibility, combined with our size and very personal service, is very much appreciated.

You made a name for yourself at UBS as a diversity champion. Do you have a lot of work ahead of you in this regard at VP Bank?

You can see me smiling. In my opinion, there's a lot to do both internally and externally, and we've defined a path that we want to follow. For me, gender diversity is merely the starting point for broader equality.

«It feels good not to be the minority for once»

If we can't get that right for half the world's population, the chances of achieving the same for other minorities aren't good. As a bank, we need to think about how we bring both our female and male clients to the table, and if we don't succeed ask ourselves why.

Is there a need for quotas at VP Bank?

My opinion on this is simple: it depends on how quickly the change to more diversity is to proceed. If you accept a gradual change, you can do without quotas. When it comes to recruiting, there needs to be a clear awareness of what kind of diversity is wanted and who decides who is hired. After all, men assess a candidate quite differently than women do, which has been scientifically proven. Diverse management naturally helps to avoid this trap.

Does that also work in your management?

We're in the privileged position that of the three people on the Executive Board of VP Bank Switzerland, two are female. But our Market Head gets along well with us (laughs). All joking aside, it feels good not to be the minority at the table for once. Everyone should be able to experience that feeling.

Wouldn't this be a topic for your next children's book?

It's already written. It's just waiting for the illustrations. When it's finished, it will teach children about the circular economy.

Mara Harvey has been CEO of VP Bank (Switzerland) VP Bank (Switzerland) and Head of Region Europe at the Liechtenstein-based private banking group since the beginning of this year. The 52-year-old, who holds a doctorate in economics, previously spent more than two decades in the service of the big bank UBS, where she made a name for herself as a super-rich banker and specialist in banking with women. The Swiss and British native has also founded her startup, Marty's Smart Way, which is committed to financial literacy.