The Alliance of Swiss Wealth Managers (ASWM) is admitting Targa 5 Advisors and GSK & Partners as members as of 1 November. The association announced the move on Wednesday.

With the two newcomers, the alliance counts 42 members. Together, they manage more than 155 billion francs and employ over 1,710 people.

A Club With an Entry Ticket

Membership is restricted. Firms must manage at least 1 billion francs, do most of their business in Switzerland and must not be majority-owned by a bank. This puts the ASWM firmly among the largest external asset managers in the country (finews.com reported).

The alliance has grown considerably in recent years. When Nicole Curti was elected president in 2022, the ASWM represented 103 billion francs in client assets and 1,120 employees (finews.com reported). Curti is a partner at the Geneva-based wealth manager Capital Y.

Latin America as a Growth Engine

Targa 5 Advisors is led by its founder and CEO Eli Mizrahi. The Finma-authorized firm manages around 1.3 billion francs and specializes in Latin American clients. Mizrahi has set a target of 3 billion francs in assets within two years.

To get there, Targa 5 has been hiring steadily. This year, it recruited Louis-Philippe Martel as country head for Mexico and Fernando Reis, formerly with Banque Audi (Suisse), as senior relationship manager. It also appointed two independent directors to its board.

From the Gulf to the Rue du Rhône

GSK & Partners was founded in 2021 by Steve Klemme and George Sarkis. Both previously served Middle Eastern clients in private banking, Klemme at Barclays and Sarkis at JPMorgan. The multi-family office is based on Geneva's Rue du Rhône.

In August 2024, GSK merged with the Geneva external asset manager Swiss Financial House. The combined firm kept the GSK name. Klemme runs it as CEO, Sarkis as managing partner.

Three Regions, One Club

The two admissions strengthen the French-speaking part of the alliance. 17 members are now based in western Switzerland, 21 in the German-speaking part of the country and four in Ticino.

"Bringing together leading firms from all three linguistic regions gives us an increasingly strong platform to exchange expertise," Curti said. Beyond peer exchange, the alliance seeks dialogue with regulators and banks. At its gala in March, members rated their custodian banks, with Pictet, UBS and Julius Baer among the winners (finews reported).