Overview
Now in its third year, the WealthBriefing Swiss Awards set to spread the word about the profession’s achievements to a wider audience. For 2016, the awards will attract over 300 senior banking and wealth management professionals to the industry’s most prestigious gala event.
The awards are focused around three main category groupings:
- experts (individuals and teams);
- products and
- services for wealth managers and clients and institutions of all sizes and types.
Independence, integrity and genuine insight will be the watchwords of the judging process. This involved specially convened expert panels drawn from both private banks and trusted advisors and support by relevant third-party organisations.
Winning a WealthBriefing Swiss award sets firms and individuals apart from their peers and is a tangible demonstration that they have something special to offer, rewarding achievement, showcasing top class performance and innovation.
We look forward to receiving your entries and seeing you at the 2016 awards ceremony.
Dates for the diary
- Entries open August 2015
- Entries close 12 November 2015
- Shortlist announced 11 December 2015
- Award ceremony 18 February 2016
Click here to download the information pack.
Key Dates
Judging Process
There will be two judging panels for the awards. A panel of trusted advisors who will be responsible for judging the private banking categories. A second panel of private bankers will judge the trusted advisor categories. This is to ensure that commercially sensitive information is kept confidential and to avoid conflicts of interest.
Trusted Advisor Panel

Nick Blaydes
Managing Director
EY
Nick Blaydes has 20 years’ investment banking experience and has worked exclusively on transactions in the financial services sector for more than a decade. Nick is head of EY’s financial services transactions team for Switzerland and leads the European M&A team for clients in the wealth management sector. Nick has an extensive track record in advising clients in the financial services industry on a variety of strategic development areas, including strategic options analysis, M&A, portfolio transactions, market entry strategies and co-operations, as well as on valuation and corporate finance issues.

Philippe Bongrand
Senior Partner
Roland Berger
Philippe advises wealth and asset managers on growth, digital strategies and transformation issues. He has worked with more than 50 clients that are global, regional or domestic leaders – in offshore and/or onshore markets - seeking to accelerate their transformation and improve their economics. In his 28 years of experience, he worked both as a strategy consultant and having operational roles in the industry, in particular having led functions such as strategy, business development, sales management, sales force effectiveness and marketing.

Ludovic Bonnamour
Managing Director
TCA Asset Management
Ludovic Bonnamour is managing director and partner of TCA Asset Management, a Swiss-based advisory boutique specialising in wealth management, corporate finance, fund services and family office solutions. Ludovic has worked for 14 years in international companies such as Allianz and HSBC in several functions from risk management to advisory services, and alongside internal and external clients in retail banking, private banking and corporate banking activities. Specialising in alternative investments as well as in quantitative fields, Ludovic has worked in the hedge funds industry, credit advisory, portfolio leverage analysis, Basel regulatory capital requirements and lending activities, while liaising with group offices before developing new services from TCA Asset Management since 2011.

James Day
Managing Director
Peritus Investment Consultancy
James is founder and managing director of Peritus Investment Consultancy, established to provide impartial guidance to private clients, family offices and trustees. The company’s expertise encompasses investment profiling, strategic and tactical asset allocation, extensive manager research, manager selection and ongoing consolidated reporting and monitoring. James draws on 26 years of industry experience at Ernst and Young Trust Company, ABN AMRO and Morgan Stanley Quilter. James is a regular participant in family office investment committees and is Fellow of the CISI.

Daniel Kobler
Partner
Deloitte
Daniel Kobler is a partner and one of the leaders in Deloitte’s Switzerland banking practice where he is in charge of banking strategy and organisation services.
He has more than 16 years experience in serving universal banks, private banks, wealth managers and insurance companies. Daniel’s specialisation covers corporate, business and functional strategy development, organisation design and corporate performance and risk management

Justine Markovitz
Head of Swiss Operations
Withers
Justine Markovitz is head of Withers Swiss operations and joint CEO of the private client and tax division. She joined the firm in 1999, and in 2005 moved to Switzerland to open their Geneva office. She focuses on advising private clients and financial institutions in relation to onshore UK and offshore tax, trust and estate planning, with particular emphasis on planning for UK resident non-domiciliaries. She also advises on wills and trust drafting matters as well as on international tax investigations. Justine advises families on succession and governance issues, working closely with those families to create structures and legal solutions to implement their long term succession plans both for their personal assets and business interests.

Daniel Martineau
Executive Chairman
Summit Trust International
Daniel worked in management positions in leading trust companies in Canada prior to taking up roles in offshore trust companies in Nassau, Jersey and Geneva with Coutts International Private Bank. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, he subsequently earned his Master of Business Administration at the University of Miami. He is accredited as a member of the Financial Planning Institute of Canada and a member of the Society of Trust and Estates Practitioners (STEP). Daniel is a founder of the Swiss Association of Trust Companies (SATC). Daniel is a Canadian and Swiss citizen and speaks English and French.

Andrew McCallum
Managing Director
Rhône Trustees
Andrew is a trustee for various UHNW and HNW families, and also specialises in the accounting and auditing of trust and corporate structures. Andrew is a UK qualified chartered accountant, and is a registered auditor in Switzerland, the UK and Ireland. He is treasurer and a committee member of STEP Geneva, and also sits on the STEP Worldwide professional standards committee. He is also a long-standing member of the audit and risk committee of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Marnin J Michaels
Partner
Baker & McKenzie Zurich
Marnin Michaels has been practicing for more than 15 years in the areas of tax and international private banking. He also handles insurance matters, particularly as it relates to tax investigations and wealth management.
Marnin has written extensively for many international publications and focuses his practice on international estate planning and taxation of trusts for families with connections in the US. He counsels clients on US withholding tax and qualified intermediary rule, as well as money laundering avoidance legislation.

Mark Miles
European Head of Wealth Management
McLagan and Scorpio Partnership, (Aon companies)
Mark is head of the wealth management & private banking practice in Europe, and is globally responsible for the Scorpio wealth consulting business. Leads the development and delivery of market leading business performance consulting, leveraging the firm’s proprietary data and analysis of client experience, pay & productivity, and talent to deliver unmatched insight and actionable advice. Over twenty years of financial services industry experience, focused on the private banking and wealth management sector. He holds a Masters (MEng) in the Manufacturing Engineering Tripos (MET) from St John’s College, Cambridge University, and completed an accelerated development programme at the London Business School.

Osmond Plummer
Managing Director
Wealthcoaching.ch
Osmond Plummer, is a Geneva-based wealth management expert active internationally as a trainer, coach and adviser of wealth management professionals. He is a senior lecturer in finance at the London Institute of Banking & Finance and visiting faculty at EU Business School in Geneva. Osmond worked in private banking in Guernsey, Hong Kong and Dubai prior to moving to Geneva in 1999. The Swiss correspondent for WealthBriefing and the founder of www.wealthcoaching.ch, Osy holds an MBA from Warwick University Business School and PGCHE in Banking & Finance. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Ray Soudah
Chairman and Founding Partner
MilleniumAssociates
Ray Soudah is the founding partner and chairman of MilleniumAssociates, the independent international M&A and corporate finance advisory firm, based in Switzerland and the UK. Founded in 2000, the firm originally focused on the financial services industry, however in recent years it has built on this M&A expertise and experience and established an additional entrepreneurs and corporates practic.
Ray has extensive multicultural wealth management and private banking/investment banking experience working in territories as diverse as the US, Asia, Middle East and Europe. Earlier positions include: managing director and member of the Private Banking Management Board for SBC/UBS AG; chief investment officer, chief financial officer and member of the executive board of Cedel Bank (renamed Clearstream); chief investment officer for the National Bank of Bahrain including head of international banking and private banking; CEO of Hong Kong, CEO of Japan, head of global capital markets office (London) and head of FIG for Midland Montagu Investment Banking and MD/CEO of Midland Montagu Securities as well as various senior positions within Citigroup, including Head of Asia Pacific Treasury and Capital Markets. Ray is a Harvard Business School & INSEAD alumnus and speaks English, French, Greek and Japanese.

Mark Summers
Partner
Charles Russell Speechlys
Mark Summers is a qualified English solicitor and heads Charles Russell Speechlys’ Swiss offices. Mark specialises in providing international estate planning, trusts and taxation advice. He has particular expertise in working with US and Continental European clients, family-owned business structures and clients working in the hedge fund and private equity sectors. Chambers Global ranks Mark as a leading individual for international private client work: he is described as the “architect of innovative solutions and is praised for his “outgoing and charming client service.” Legal 500 describes Mark as a “go-to on complex jurisdictional matters”.

Dr Marcel Tschanz
Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services
PwC
Dr. Marcel Tschanz has over 20 years of professional experience that embraces a record of leading large multi-cultural teams in international environments and of managing complex long-term projects. Over this period he has worked in several financial serviced firms with P&L responsibilities in global wealth management organisations. In his last assignment Marcel headed VP Bank (Switzerland) AG as its CEO. Marcel has developed and implemented new service and business models and led the implementation of sustainable cultural change programmes. His current role as partner at PwC means he is responsible for WM strategy consulting and services for several large global private banks.

Bruce Weatherill
Chief Executive
Weatherill Consulting
Bruce is a chartered accountant with over 37 years financial services experience, previously a partner in PwC, latterly as Global leader of their Wealth Management practice and the key driver of their bi-annual Wealth Management Report. Bruce is now CEO of Weatherill Consulting providing advice on client centricity and wider strategic matters to wealth managers. He is the author of The Value of Trust: the quest by Wealth Managers for Trusted Advisor status and a number of other thought leadership reports. Bruce is chairman of ClearView Financial Media and a non-executive of a number of companies including Fidelity Holdings UK, The Wisdom Council, ComPeer, JDX Consulting and Ten Group.

David Wilson
Partner
Schellenberg Wittmer
David Wallace Wilson is a partner in Schellenberg Wittmer’s private client & estates practice in Switzerland. He advises individuals domestically and internationally on all aspects of wealth structures and tax planning for their personal and business assets. He is specialised in matrimonial and inheritance issues including succession vehicles. David also administers cross-border estates and acts in family disputes including mediation. His additional areas of expertise include anti-money laundering (AML) and art law. David currently acts as chairman of STEP Geneva and is the founder of the leading website on trusts in Switzerland (www.trusts.ch).
Private Bankers Panel

Dr Ariel Sergio Goekmen
Member of the Executive Board
Schroder & Co Bank
Ariel is a member of the executive board of Schroder & Co Bank in Switzerland and is responsible for its private banking operations in Zurich which service clients in Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, and the Nordic region of Sweden and Eastern Europe/Russia. Ariel supports UHNWI entrepreneurs and families in all financial advisory aspects and beyond, e.g. succession planning, philanthropy and relocation, together with other internal and external experts. Over more than 30 years in the banking sector, Ariel has held various managerial positions and is a regular speaker at conferences and the author of many articles and books on the subject. He is a member of STEP, ITPA, IISS and IFA.

Xavier Isaac
CEO
Accuro
Xavier Isaac is CEO of Accuro, the multi-jurisdictional trust and family office business. Xavier gained over 20 years of experience in various senior management positions at ABN AMRO Bank and Trust in Luxembourg, Geneva and Jersey prior to joining Investec in 2005. He was instrumental in the launch of Accuro in May 2017 following the successful completion of the management buyout of the Salamanca Trust Group, formally known as Investec Trust. Originally from Belgium, Xavier graduated magna cum laude in law from the Catholic University of Louvain. He served as the inaugural Vice-President of the Swiss Association of Trust Companies (SATC). He is also a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and is a Presiding Judge for the STEP Private Client Awards 2018/19. Xavier is a regular speaker at conferences organized by STEP, SATC, Academy & Finance and Transcontinental Trust. Since February 2016, Xavier has been the treasurer of the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation.

Dr. Gabriela Maria Payer
Head of Education
Swiss Finance Institute
Dr Gabriela Maria Payer has a long career in the financial services sector, most of it spent at UBS. She has sustainable achievements in key business functions at executive level, with a focus on strategy, communication and HR. This is supplemented by a proven track record in banking, specifically in the wealth management industry around the globe. Gabriela established her own consulting boutique, PayerPartner, in 2012. She joined the Swiss Finance Institute, a private foundation created by Switzerland’s banking and finance community and leading Swiss universities, as head of education and member of its management board in the same year. She holds several board mandates in the financial services and communication industries.

Luis Sanz de Andino
Head of Multi-Family Office
BBVA Global Wealth (Switzerland)
Luis Sanz de Andino is head of multi family office services at BBVA Global Wealth, the international private banking division of the group BBVA located in Zurich, where he has worked for more than 13 years.
Before assuming this role he had fulfilled a number of other senior management roles including head of the European team and chief investment officer.
Prior to joining BBVA Global Wealth, Luis worked in Spain for BBVA, La Caixa, and for ten years before that at Banco Central Hispano Private Banking. Luis has nearly thirty years experience in private banking and asset management.

Matthew Spencer
Managing director and head of intermediaries, MFOs and group referrals
Deutsche Bank
Matthew Spencer is a managing director and head of intermediaries, MFOs and group referrals at Deutsche Bank. He has specific responsibility for developing, managing and coordinating relationships with professional services firms and family offices – an area he has specialised in since 1994. Previously he has also held similar positions at Coutts and Credit Suisse where he was also a member of the UK market area management team and was based in Switzerland between 2010 and 2012.

Pierre Vrielink
CEO Wealth Management Switzerland and Emerging Markets
BNP Paribas (Suisse)
Pierre Vrielinck, a Belgian native, joined Paribas in the firm’s asset management division in Paris in the 1990s. He was subsequently promoted to middle-office & fund administration manager for BNP Paribas Asset Management, and then global head of fund administration and middle-office for BNP Paribas Securities Services. In January 2009, Pierre joined the general management team as chief operating officer of BNP Paribas (Suisse) in Geneva, whilst also holding the position of deputy head of wealth management international Europe. Pierre assumed responsibility for the wealth management division in Switzerland and the emerging markets in July 2014.

Emanuele Zanon di Valgiurata
Head of Private Banking
Banque Morval
Having gained a degree in law at the University of Turin, Emanuele Zanon di Valgiurata refined his management expertise at Harvard Business School. His professional career began in 1990 as a financial analyst at Bank San Paolo in Paris. Subsequently he joined the family owned banking group Morval Vonwiller where he developed private portfolio management and equity fund management. In 2003 he was appointed Head of private banking for Banque Morval; whilst in this role he contributed to the acquisition of the South American operation of the group.
Emanuele currently acts as head of Geneva’s private banking activities of Banque Morval and is responsible for the South American operations of the bank.
Finalists
PRIVATE BANKING CATEGORIES
Domestic private bank
ORGANISATION |
Bank Julius Baer |
Banque Lombard Odier & Co |
Banque Paris Bertrand Sturdza |
Banque SYZ |
REYL & Cie |
Foreign private bank
ORGANISATION |
Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, Switzerland |
BNP Paribas (Suisse) |
Citi Private Bank |
Rothschild Wealth Management |
HNW team (Swiss domestic clients)
ORGANISATION |
Bank Julius Baer |
Banque Lombard Odier & Co |
Rothschild Wealth Management |
HNW/UHNW team (International clients)
ORGANISATION |
Bank Julius Baer |
Banque Paris Bertrand Sturdza |
Banque SYZ |
REYL & Cie |
Wealth planning team
ORGANISATION |
Bank Julius Baer |
BNP Paribas (Suisse) |
Family office offering
ORGANISATION |
Bank Julius Baer |
BNP Paribas (Suisse) |
Peritus Investment Consultancy |
Specialist international team (EDITOR’S AWARD)
ORGANISATION |
HSBC Private Bank |
Client initiative
ORGANISATION |
Bank Julius Baer |
Banque Lombard Odier & Co |
REYL & Cie |
Union Bancaire Privee |
Best private bank – client service
ORGANISATION |
Bank Julius Baer |
Banque SYZ |
Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, Switzerland |
BNP Paribas (Suisse) |
Rothschild Wealth Management |
Best private bank – investment management platform
ORGANISATION |
Bank Julius Baer |
Banque SYZ |
Rothschild Wealth Management |
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CATEGORIES
External asset manager
ORGANISATION |
Bedrock |
TCA Asset Management |
Fund manager
ORGANISATION |
Banque Paris Bertrand Sturdza |
Union Bancaire Privee |
Private investment office/Multi-family office
ORGANISATION |
Bedrock |
Peritus Investment Consultancy |
MARKETING/PR CATEGORIES
Best marketing / PR programme
ORGANISATION |
Banque SYZ |
Union Bancaire Privee |
Where Americans Are Welcome |
PRIVATE CLIENT CATEGORIES
Legal team
ORGANISATION |
Charles Russell Speechlys |
Schellenberg Wittmer |
Withers Worldwide |
Independent trust or fiduciary company
ORGANISATION |
Rawlinson & Hunter Trustees |
Salamanca Group Trust (Switzerland) |
Summit Trust International |
Boutique firm
ORGANISATION |
Saffery Champness (Switzerland) |
TCA Asset Management |
WEALTH MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY CATEGORIES (VENDORS)
Front office solution
ORGANISATION |
Avaloq |
Expersoft Systems |
SS&C Advent |
TEMENOS |
Transaction processing solution (EDITOR’S AWARD)
ORGANISATION |
Expersoft Systems |
Transaction processing solution (EDITOR’S AWARD)
ORGANISATION |
ERI Bancaire |
Portfolio management
ORGANISATION |
Avaloq |
Charles River Development |
ERI Bancaire |
Expersoft Systems |
SS&C Advent |
WEALTH MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY CATEGORIES (OPEN)
Risk profiling solution/risk management solution
ORGANISATION |
Expersoft Systems |
FinaMetrica |
CRM system
ORGANISATION |
Avaloq |
Expersoft Systems |
Finantix |
On-boarding
ORGANISATION |
Appway |
Avaloq |
Expersoft Systems |
Finantix |
Profile Software |
Innovative client solution
ORGANISATION |
ABS |
Banque Lombard Odier & Co |
BRT |
Expersoft Systems |
InvestGlass |
Profile Software |
OTHER WEALTH MANAGEMENT CATEGORIES
International finance centre (Editor’s Award)
ORGANISATION |
Guernsey International Finance Centre |
OTHER WEALTH MANAGEMENT CATEGORIES
Outstanding contribution to wealth management thought leadership (Individual or company contribution)
ORGANISATION |
EY |
PwC & UBS |
RISING STAR
To be announced shortly.
WOMEN IN WEALTH MANAGEMENT
To be announced shortly.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL (ADVISORS)
To be announced shortly.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL (BANKERS)
To be announced shortly.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
To be announced shortly.
Featured Sponsors
Drinks Reception Sponsor
Sponsors
Benefits
These prestigious awards recognise excellence within the wealth management sector. In addition they provide your business with a highly affluent, captive audience of private bankers, lawyers, accountants, financial advisors and technology providers across the wealth management sector. Consequently these awards present your business with a unique opportunity to be involved in industry sector sponsorship giving your company the following:- Exposure across our subscription base and associated international media (60,000 subscribers worldwide)
- Extensive brand exposure on the night to over 300 of Switzerland’s leading wealth management professionals
- The opportunity to target an affluent market with high disposable income
- Excellent networking opportunities with senior decision-makers
- Association with leading industry awards
- The chance to develop new contacts and expand your sales network
- Increased brand exposure within the wealth management sector
- Listing in IFC world
Venue
Hotel President Wilson
Address: 47 Quai Wilson, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland
Tickets
Winners
Winners will be announced at the ceremony on the evening of 18 February 2016.
Photographs
Previous Attendees
Advent
Appway
Aston Martin
Baker & McKenzie
Barclays
Bellevue Asset Management
BNP Paribas Wealth Management
BRT
Canaccord
Coutts
Credit Agricole Private Banking
Credit Suisse
Deloitte
ERI Banking Software
Finametrica
Finantix
Froriep Renggli
Kaiser Partner Privatbank
Lombard Odier
Mandaris
MilleniumAssociates
Oliver Wyman Financial Services
Pace Law Firm
Peritus Investment Consultancy
PwC
Rawlinson & Hunter
Salamanca Group Trust (Switzerland)
Schellenberg Wittmer
smartKYC
Stanhope Capital
Summit Trust International
Swiss Finance Institute
Tag Heuer
TCA Asset Management
UBP Private Banking
UBS Wealth Management
Veuve Clicquot
Wealthcoaching.ch
Testimonials
“Please pass on my thanks to the entire team for a wonderful night on Thursday. Hats off to you for having created such a successful event already in year one.” Andrew McCallum – Rawlinson & Hunter
“Our staff had a great evening yesterday, many thanks and well done!” Willem Redert, Banque Lombard Odier & Cie
“I wanted to thank you very much for the invitation and the good organisation of last week’s awards. It was a very nice evening and everything was perfect indeed!” Ludovic Bonnamour, TCA Asset Management
“I truly enjoyed working with you and your team. Thank you for organising a wonderful event. I think everybody was impressed by the great organisation and beautiful set up.” Katya Martin, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Geneva, Prestige Motor Group