The Fourth Annual WealthBriefing Swiss External Asset Management Awards for Excellence 2024

Anne is founder and managing director of the award-winning, Swiss online platform AW✚SWITZERLAND at americanswelcome.swiss. AWS introduces Swiss asset managers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States and dedicated to providing Swiss-based wealth management services to US and Canadian citizens, residents, and expats. The platform includes other wealth management-related services as well. In addition, Anne provides US-oriented, digital and traditional marketing, communication, and business development strategies through her agency, Americom.

Pierre is Managing Partner at WIZE by TeamWork, the all-in-one Wealth & Asset Management solution, which is one of the fastest growing WealthTech companies in Switzerland dedicated to External Asset Managers, Family Offices, Fund Managers and Banks.

He brings the judges panel an extensive banking operations & IT expertise acquired in his current role since 2020 but also during the 9 previous years while heading business development of Bank Lombard Odier global custody & reporting services which he joined after 10 years as Private Banking Client Executive at IBM Geneva.

Both Swiss and Belgian, used to work in multi-cultural and multilingual environments, his motivation has been during his whole career to understanding customer's pains, translating those to experts who are able to solve them and setting the right level of expectations on both sides.

Alain Esseiva is the Co-Founder and CEO of Alpadis Group. Alain leads the business, development, strategy and growth aspects of the Group, and oversees the day-to-day operations of the Singapore office as well as growth in Switzerland.

Alain brings over 30 years of combined experience in wealth planning and fiduciary services both in Switzerland and internationally. He has a calculated appetite for risk and embraces change, constantly looking at new markets and opportunities.

When he is not advising his clients across Switzerland and Asia, Alain enjoys running ultramarathons around the world, including the Gobi Desert, Kazakhstan and Antarctica.

Mathieu serves as CEO for Tameo Investment Fund Solutions, a leading Swiss impact investing specialist, advising funds, managers and investors. Tameo assumes responsibility for the portfolio oversight, policy functions and ESG & impact reporting of the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (1Bn CHF).

Prior to this position, he was CEO at Geneva Management Group, a FINMA regulated, award winning, asset manager and multi-family office, founded in Switzerland in 2000.

Mathieu started his career in investment banking where he ran BNP Paribas’s gold derivatives trading activities globally. He then served as Head of Trading for MKS, one of the leading precious metals trading and refining companies.

He holds two MSc degrees in Mathematics and a certificate in ESG Investing from the CFA Institute.

Mathieu has a proven track record of creating and growing new businesses, from startups to standalone business lines in large groups, with a special interest and focus on sustainability and impact investments.

Hassen is a Senior Relationship Manager covering External Asset Managers at MCB (DIFC Branch). He relocated from MCB’s Head Office in July 2021 where he was previously responsible for coverage of EAMs and Multi Family Offices in Switzerland, Monaco, the UAE and in Mauritius. Prior to joining MCB, Hassen established the EAM Desk at Afrasia Bank, a boutique bank based in Mauritius. Hassen is an entrepreneurial and solution oriented banking professional with experience in multiple African, Middle Eastern and European jurisdictions who actively leverages on the entire MCB Group capabilities that also include corporate and investment banking, asset management and private equity. He holds a Master of Business Administration from HEC Paris and speaks fluently English and French.

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 marks twenty-two years of exceptional, independent M&A and corporate finance advisory service. Originally focused on executing M&A transactions in the global financial services industry, as the industry developed and private banks recognised the need to offer their clients more specialist corporate finance advice, Millenium Associates launched their Entrepreneurs and
Corporates Practice, extending their M&A and corporate finance services to the clients of private
banks as well as corporates and entrepreneurial business owners globally.
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.

Ian is a C-Suite leader, Director and an Advisor. He has a focus on customer experience and organizational progression. 

As a former member of the Executive Committee of Coutts & Co, RBS and in addition a Board member at Adam & Co, Ian is known as an industry strategy leader and reference for marketing, business development, brand creation and implementation and innovation. Ian is actively involved with a number of innovation firms and partners in FinTech, Payments disruption, Savings and Pensions, and is an Advisor to YEXT and KORE.

He is currently Chief Marketing Officer at Acin Ltd.

Additionally, Ian sits on a number of advisory boards in organisations with both commercial and philanthropic purpose.

Ian is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors. 

He has enjoyed a highly international career; is Swiss and British.

Ian lives in the UK and Spain and is married to his wife Zoe; they have four grown-up children.

Laurent Pellet joined Lombard Odier in June 2017. He assumed responsibility for the Group’s External Asset Managers department in 2018.

His career began with Ferrier Lullin, where he held various positions for more than 15 years, including Head of Credit and Risk, and subsequently Head of the External Asset Managers department in 1997. In 2006, he joined Julius Baer to lead their External Asset Managers business for the French-speaking part of Switzerland and Western Europe. In 2012, his responsibilities were extended to cover Monaco and the Middle East.

Laurent Pellet holds a Federal Diploma (school leaving certificate) from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Genève. He is a graduate in Credit and Risk Management from the University of Geneva, and in Quantitative Portfolio Management from HEC Geneva. He also holds a Diploma in Digital Finance Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva and the ‘International Certificate of Private Banking and Wealth Management Retreat’ from the Swiss Finance Institute. He is a Certified Wealth Management Advisor (CWMA).

Stephan Aepli began his career in 1992 at Société de Banque Suisse as a Corporate & Institutional Banking Relationship Manager. After a period working at SBC New York he joined SBC Warburg in Singapore (UBS Warburg following the SBC-UBS merger) as Risk Manager for the Asia-Pacific region. In 2000, he went on to work for Lombard Odier & Cie in Geneva, where he managed the implementation of the new operating structure in the Independent Wealth Managers department following the 2002 LO-DH merger. Later, as Deputy Head, Stephan oversaw the Swiss Romandy and international development of this business line. He joined Mirabaud & Cie in 2005 as Global Head of Independent Managers, and was also in charge of Mirabaud Asset Management’s Geneva branch. He came to REYL & Cie in 2019, taking on the position of Head of Independent Asset Managers.

Mr Guth is co-Branch Manager of CBH Bank in Zurich since 2022. He started his career at the Swiss National Bank, in Investment Banking and in Swiss Private Banks. He then became Deputy Head of Client Relationship Management at Quilvest (Switzerland) Ltd., a family office specializing in Wealth Planning and Wealth Management. During his more than fourteen years in this position, he gained extensive knowledge in the areas of private equity, family office and wealth management. Mr Guth is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, a graduate of the Geneva Graduate Institute and the University of Geneva, and a CFA® charterholder.

Pius Stucki has broad experience in product management and information systems for the asset management industry. Having worked with Swiss banks and family office for a couple of years he has extensive experience with operations and software solutions for asset managers, family offices, pension funds and private banks.

Pius Stucki holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Master of Business in Information Systems from the Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia, United States.

As a former professional athlete Pius still loves to compete successfully in national and international running and cycling events.

Specialties: Operations of asset managers, (fund of) hedge funds, system integration for asset managers, process optimization, reporting.

Nadia Bargetzi is Deputy Head of Wealth Management at BIL Suisse, directly responsible for the Professional Intermediaries Team, the Middle East Team, and the China Market Team in all Swiss locations.

Nadia started her career as a Relationship Manager at Credit Suisse, where she developed a deep understanding of clients’ needs and concerns. She moved to Julius Baer where she managed UHNWI clientele from LATAM as well as served as Desk Head Argentina for nearly 10 years. Subsequently, Nadia managed clients and held managerial roles in Wealth Management during her tenure at Quilvest and Decisive Capital Management.

Nadia is a Certified Wealth Management Advisor (CWMA) and acts as an Examiner for the BBZ CWMA Exams. She is an active member of several boards, and acts as a mentor for Start-ups. Whilst at Julius Baer, she co-founded the philanthropic initiative “Julius Baer Cares Switzerland”.

A strong, inclusive leader and gifted client advisor, Nadia is a role model for women in Finance in Switzerland, encouraging women to enter wealth management and achieve seniority.  Multilingual and versatile, she speaks German, Italian, French, Spanish and English.

Frédéric Toselli is Head of External Asset Managers (EAMs), Commercial and Affluent Banking at Union Bancaire Privée (UBP). Before taking over this position, he was Business Developer for the EAM Desk after having transferred to the Geneva office as Head of Business Management & Projects, Wealth Management Europe from the Monaco branch where he had been Deputy COO & Head of Operations. Frédéric has over 18 years’ experience in finance. Before joining UBP in 2014, he was with Lloyds Banking Group and the Crédit Agricole group.

He holds and engineering degree with a specialisation in quantitative finance from Ecole des Mines in Saint-Etienne, France.

Gary Tiernan has worked in the international finance industry for over three decades. He now runs his own consulting business supporting UHNWIs and families. He is an experienced CEO and CIO in the MFO and EAM areas.
He started his career in investment banking, holding management roles in London and Switzerland. In private banking, he has held several global roles, and multiple senior regional roles in Asia and Europe, and worked extensively with clients internationally. These roles have covered investments, fiduciary and wealth planning, and sales management.