The Thirteenth WealthBriefing Swiss Awards 2026

Nick has over 12 years of wealth management experience across London and Switzerland. He began his career in the UK R&D team at Barclays London before moving to their Geneva office. He went on to lead the UK advisory team at Mirabaud in Geneva for four and a half years. In 2023, he joined NFG Partners, where he now oversees the firm’s advisory proposition.

Marc is a passionate leader, who heads EY’s Swiss Financial Services Strategy and Transaction team. He has more than 20 years of experience in advising financial institutions in the context of corporate transactions and corporate finance strategies. He has a deep understanding of the challenges and priorities faced by the wealth management industry in Switzerland and abroad. Beside advising clients on traditional financial services transactions Marc has a vast track record in providing the whole range of corporate finance services in related markets such as software, brokerage, platform economy or payment services.

Marc started his career as a bank auditor in 2000. He was member of the core audit team of one of the ten largest banks worldwide, responsible for wealth management and private banking. After four years in assurance, he joined the Transaction Advisory team in Zurich and gained international experience on a secondment in London. In 2012 he left EY and spent four years as a partner at a Corporate Finance Boutique specialised in M&A and consulting. In 2016 he re-joined EY as transaction support team leader. Four years later he took over the management of the FSO Strategy and Transaction service line.

Marc is a Swiss Certified Accountant, member of the FSO Switzerland Executive Committee and the EMEIA FSO Strategy and Transaction Leadership team.

Philippe has an extensive experience in the Wealth Management industry having contributed from four different perspectives. First, at the largest global Wealth Manager he led Strategy, Business development, Marketing and Sales. Second, as a Partner within Strategy consulting firms he advised global, regional or domestic leaders on all continents and in both offshore and/or onshore markets on how to improve their competitive position and economics. Third, he led a Tech company offering platforms or individual solutions across SaaS / ITO / BPO provider for 115 wealth managers. Fourth, he personally advised UHNWI on their legacy.

Judith is a UK qualified solicitor with over 30 years in estates & succession planning in the UK, Cayman and Switzerland. She has extensive experience with Middle Eastern and non-Resident Indian families and their family offices. She also sits on the board of several Charitable Foundations. She has held Director positions for over 16 years, representing both independent and bank owned trust companies and is an executive committee member of the Swiss Association of Trusts & Companies.

Cécile is a Founding Partner and CEO of META OCTAV GROUP, bringing an extensive career in wealth and estate planning and a well-established reputation in international trust and foundation structuring. She advises private and corporate clients on the design and management of complex, multi-jurisdictional trust and corporate structures, with expertise spanning Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

She has been recognised as “Women in Wealth Management” Switzerland 2022, and together with her teams awarded “Wealth Planning Advisors” Switzerland 2023 and “Corporate Service Provider” Geneva 2024. Most recently, Cécile was named among the Most Influential European Businesswomen of 2025, reflecting her leadership and impact within the international wealthmanagement community.

Cécile sits on the steering committee of XLNC, where she chairs the Wealth Management & Estate Planning Focus Group. She is a former Chairwoman of the Geneva branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners(STEP) and former Chairwoman of the STEP Swiss & Liechtenstein Federation. She has been recognised as a “prominent figure” in the Leading Trustees category of the Citywealth Leaders List.

In addition, Cécile has served for many years as a presiding judge for the STEP Private Client Awards as well as the WealthBriefing Awards in Switzerland and the MENA region. Her professional qualifications cover company law and practice, tax compliance, international trust management, trust administration and accounting, and trust creation, enabling her to deliver highly bespoke, robust, and future-proof solutions for international families, entrepreneurs, and institutional clients.

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 30 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.

  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, Pension Funds, Fund Managers, Securities Firms 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.

Steve is a founding director of Investment & Wealth Management Consultants (“IAWMC”) who provide a full spectrum of consulting services, from strategic advice through to delivery for wealth managers, private banks, family offices, asset managers, software vendors and service providers.

Steve has over 30 years’ experience in the wealth and asset management industry gained at Schroders Private Bank, C Hoare & Co, State Street, Bank of New York and management consulting firms. A dynamic, pragmatic and innovative person with the ability to operate at any level up to and including Board level. An excellent communicator with first-rate people management skills and a proven track record of delivering results. Operated as a member of the senior management team in a number of organisations.

Steve is a regular keynote speaker at financial services’ events and is often quoted in the press. He also serves on the judging panel for a number of prestigious wealth management industry awards covering the UK, Channel Islands and Switzerland.

By utilising his extensive network of contacts, Steve is also able to add value to start-up and scale-up Fintech companies and private equity organisations.

Laurent started his career at Rothschild & Co in 2011 as head of the Geneva office. He was later appointed as head of private clients Swiss onshore & Iberia and was made chief executive officer of Rothschild & Co Bank on 1 June 2016. He became global partner of Rothschild & Co in 2017.

Laurent joined Rothschild from Investec Bank, Geneva where he was senior private banker and head of the Geneva office successfully building a new business that provided tailored solutions to private clients. Prior to Investec, Laurent was executive director at Goldman Sachs, Geneva where he focussed primarily on entrepreneurs in technology and financial services.

Founder and Portfolio Manager at Aurea, with extensive experience managing multi-asset global portfolios for high-net-worth individuals. Previously worked at Investment Banks in Brazil and in Private Equity in Germany. Holds a degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Poli-USP and a Master's in Business Economics from FGV and the University of St. Gallen. CFA Charterholder.

Carmen Kiavila, has a unique background, having worked in various areas of tech, tax, financial services consulting, businesses, and international law throughout her career..

For more than a decade, her practice has focused on compliance and litigation matters related to the Tech, Tax, and Financial Services industries.

Me Carmen Kiavila worked as an auditor in the financial services department at Deloitte in Geneva and as a consultant in the financial sector in Geneva.

In addition to be a searcher, a presenter, and an expert, Me Kiavila holds a Master of Science in financial economics from the very prestigious HEC Paris business school with majors in finance and economics, an LLM in Dispute resolution from QMUL, a law degree from Toulouse Capitole University.

Carmen Kiavila passed the Paris bar exam and has displayed her activity throughout Switzerland, France, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Dubaï.

Me Carmen Kiavila is based in Bern, in Switzerland

Geralda has 19+ years of global experience working with high-net-worth families, assisting with succession planning, asset protection, and corporate structuring. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Flagler College, Florida (USA), and a Master's in International Management from Oxford Brookes University (United Kingdom). She has an LLM in International Taxation and Financial Services from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, California (USA), and she is also TEP qualified.

In 1999 Geralda started in the fiduciary industry in Curaçao, where for many years, she worked for a successful global fiduciary and trust provider. In 2008, she relocated to Zurich to enforce their local Swiss office by the creation of an International Trust team for the group and to expand their business development efforts in Europe. Prior to joining UMA Wealth Group as Managing Partner of UMA Swiss AG, she held multiple senior management positions. Geralda also worked for a multi-family office as Senior Wealth Planner in Switzerland.

Geralda has extensive experience and knowledge in working with global families and entrepreneurs from Latin America and other emerging markets, and she has an in-depth understanding of wealth management and fiduciary requirements for the region. Her background, combined with many years of industry and market experience, makes for the perfect combination to ensure clients the expert and quality support and service they deserve.

Geralda is fluent in English, Spanish, and Dutch and speaks moderate German

With a distinguished career spanning over two decades in Swiss private banking and investment management, Iskra's specialization lies in catering to the unique needs of Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWIs), showcasing her ability to navigate the complexities of their financial portfolios.

Iskra possesses a profound understanding of the global financial landscape, a quality that positions her as a valuable asset in delivering strategic financial solutions.

Iskra has more than 20 years of experience in Swiss private banking and investment management, with over 17 years at EFG Bank AG in Geneva before joining Azura Partners. Over the course of her career, Iskra has covered ultrahigh net worth individuals, and has developed an acute expertise in the CIS and Central and Eastern Europe clientele.

Her commitment to excellence is complemented by a strong educational foundation. Iskra holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria and has also attended Fribourg University of Law in Switzerland. She speaks fluent Bulgarian, Russian, English, French, German, Italian and Serbian, allowing her to effectively serve today’s global citizen.

Andrew is Senior Partner of the Swiss firm, leading both the Zurich and Geneva offices and having responsibility for the oversight of the Swiss firm’s trust, corporate administration, accounting and audit services.

Andrew is a bilingual private client and corporate services partner with 25 years Swiss and international experience at board, trustee and audit committee level on trusts, foundations, companies, family offices and not-for-profit entities. He specialises in both private client and corporate services, including estate planning and the establishment and ongoing administration of complex international trust and foundation structures, private trust companies and purpose trusts. In addition to being trustee on family trusts, Andrew undertakes the accounting and auditing of trusts and underlying entities for other trustees and family offices.

Andrew is a Chartered Accountant (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland), an authorised “expert-auditor” in Switzerland, a qualified Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) and holds an MBA.

Andrew sits on several industry leading boards and committees at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the Swiss Association of Trust Companies (SATC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He is currently Chair of the Swiss and Liechtenstein STEP Federation (2018-present), is Treasurer and Committee member of both STEP Geneva (2010-present) and the Swiss Association of Trust Companies (2018-present), is a member of the STEP Worldwide Governance Committee (2021-present) and is the Vice Chair of the Audit and Risk Commission of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2009- present). Previously, he was member of STEP Worldwide Professional Standards Committee (2013-2020). Andrew is fluent in English and French, and is a dual British-Swiss national.

He is a regular speaker at conferences and training courses and publisher of articles, and he has been called upon to provide expert evidence to Court in the area of private client financial statements and business analysis.

Mark is a Partner in Aon’s Human Capital practice, leading the management and development of key clients in
Financial Services sector across UK and EMEA.

Leveraging insight from Aon’s unrivalled proprietary data sets, key topics cover Workforce Analytics, RM/Adviser
Productivity gains, Total Rewards Strategy, Skills Based Organisations and Human Capital M&A.

He has over twenty five years’ experience in the Financial Services industry, focused on the Banking and Wealth
Management sectors, both as a consultant and in senior banking leadership roles.

Mark holds a Masters (MEng) from St John's College, Cambridge University

Karin is an experienced financial professional with over a decade of expertise in private banking and wealth management. Currently serving as a Director at Vontobel in Zürich, she is responsible for managing relationships with External Asset Managers (EAMs) in Latin America, as well as Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) in the United States. She joined the EAM International Team 2023 as a Relationship Manager.

Prior to this role, Karin was a Vice President at Citi Private Bank, where she was part of the team covering Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals (UHNWI) and Single Family Offices. Before Citi, she spent nearly 9 years at EFG Bank, focusing on Latin American High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWI) and Multi-Family Offices. Her earlier career includes roles as an Assistant Relationship Manager at BSI Bank and Clariden Leu, where she refined her skills in client relationship management.

Outside of work, Karin is passionate about traveling, exploring culinary experiences, and attending classical concerts.

Daniel Müller serves a Partner and Global Wealth Management Leader for PwC. With over 15 years of Financial Services experience, Daniel has been leading PwC teams in audit as well as consulting projects for the largest wealth management businesses in Switzerland. Thanks to his deep knowledge of the business and his expertise, he brings to the Judges Pannel a thorough understanding of the local and global wealth management landscape across all client segments.

Franck Oliger is the CEO and Senior Partner of SpeciTec SA, a Swiss software company redefining how private banks manage credit and client lifecycle processes. With more than 13 years at SpeciTec, including nearly 4 as CEO, he has played a central role in the company’s evolution from a niche provider to a recognized innovator in the WealthTech industry.

Before taking the helm, Franck led several strategic initiatives across product development and client delivery, driving SpeciTec’s expansion in both Europe and Asia. His leadership combines deep banking expertise with technology and clear vision for digital transformation, enabling private banks to accelerate origination, strengthen risk management, and deliver superior client experiences.

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.

Patrick Stauber has been actively engaged in the financial sector for over thirty years.

Currently, he holds senior positions within the Marcuard Heritage group, serving as the Group Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Alpinum Investment Management AG board. Additionally, Patrick is a shareholder of the Marcuard Heritage group and was a founding executive member of the Alliance of Swiss Wealth Managers.

Before joining Marcuard Heritage group in 2009, Patrick held top positions with a Swiss external asset manager and in various UCITS vehicles in Luxembourg. His previous experience includes roles at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management in Zurich and London, Citicorp Private Bank Zurich, and Citibank NA in London.

Philippe has over 30 years of leadership experience in the Banking and Financial Services’ industry and has held a variety of senior management roles in companies in Switzerland and abroad, having previously served as Country Manager, Sales and Marketing Manager, Chief Operating Officer, Chief financial Officer and Relationship Manager. His most recent role was Managing Director at Reyl Intesa Sanpaolo, based in Geneva. Philippe was in charge of the operations within the Asset Services business line and more specifically for the Fund Representation Solutions department. This service enables foreign fund managers to raise assets in Switzerland in full compliance with the local regulations.

He has thus acquired a wide range of experience that allows him to have a 360° vision of all business lines of an international banking group.

Both Swiss and Italian, Philippe is completely comfortable operating in multicultural and multilingual environments and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Marketing Manager diploma.

Nicolas Syz is head of private banking at Syz Bank, where he leads the entire front office. The client relationship team is split into independent asset managers and regional focuses (Switzerland and Europe, Latin America and Iberia, as well as Middle East and Africa).

Prior to this role, Nicolas headed the investments team which is comprised of advisory, discretionary, and alternative investment management. Before that he led business development at Syz Bank, managing the business support function and product development process for Syz’s four key regions and focus countries: Switzerland, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. In this role he built the entire Swiss product offering, including wealth planning, pension planning and mortgages.

Preceding Syz Bank, Nicolas started his career as a junior sales manager at Firmenich managing the Unilever Fine Fragrance Division in London and then Paris. Following this he joined UBS as an equity strategist in the wealth management CIO office in Switzerland where he was a part of the Equity Team and Active Global Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) position taker for discretionary mandates. Nicolas was also responsible for global regional equity investments through qualitative and quantitative research. 

Outside of finance, Nicolas is an avid sportsman, previously being part of the Swiss National Skeleton Team, and a passionate photographer.

With over 25 years of experience across Singapore, Zurich, and Dubai, Ravi has built a distinguished career in wealth and investment management, consistently recognized as a top performer.

He is the CEO and Founder of Jupiter Wealth Advisors Limited, an established independent asset management company based in the DIFC, Dubai. Jupiter Wealth has earned the trust of UHNW and HNW clients by providing premium advisory services rooted in transparency, integrity, and alignment of interests. Operating through an open-architecture model and best-in-class solutions, the firm acts as a family office for selected clients, offering comprehensive, long-term financial guidance and serving as their one-stop advisor for all wealth matters.

Prior to founding Jupiter, he held senior leadership positions at Credit Suisse. As Managing Director and Market Area Head for Sub-Saharan Africa (2018–2021), he led a global team of relationship managers across nine countries, expanded the franchise, and collaborated with Investment Banking on strategic initiatives. Earlier, as Director and Team Leader for the NRI Switzerland desk (2014–2017), he doubled assets and revenues and was awarded Best Team Leader in International Wealth Management.
His previous roles included COO/Market Officer for the Indian Subcontinent/NRI Market and VP, Head of Business Management for the Middle East and Turkey, where he drove strategic planning, compliance, and growth. He began his career at Reuters Consulting/TIBCO Finance Technology in Singapore before joining Credit Suisse as a Business Analyst.

A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), he also holds a BSc with Honors in Information Systems and Computer Science from the National University of Singapore.

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 Wallace Wilson heads Schellenberg Wittmer’s private wealth team in Geneva and is regarded as a leading practitioner in this field. He is listed Tier 1 by Chambers and Partners HNW since 2015 and appears in the Private Client Global Elite since 2012. David assists private clients and their families with wealth structuring and succession planning. He also acts in family, guardianship and inheritance disputes, including domestic and international litigation. His particular expertise includes the (future) Swiss trust, relocating to Switzerland, art transactions and defending clients against automatic exchange of  information (CRS). David is the founder of www.trusts.ch, the leading website on trusts in Switzerland, served as the chairman of STEP Geneva as well as an editor of the Trust Quarterly Review.