WealthBriefing Swiss Awards 2015

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.

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.

Cécile is the CEO for Trustconsult in Switzerland as well as Head of Private Client for the Trustconsult Group. She has an extensive wealth & estate planning career, earning a solid reputation for her work on international trust & foundation. Her experience includes managing complex & sophisticated trust and corporate structures for private and corporate clients located around the globe, including Latin America and Asia but more specifically in the Middle East.

Cecile is chairing the Wealth Management & Estate Planning focus Group of XLNC, she is also an active member of several significant professional bodies including The International Bar Association (IBA) and The International Tax Planning Association (ITPA). Former Chairwoman of the STEP branch in Geneva and also Former Chairwoman of the STEP Swiss & Liechtenstein Federation, acknowledged as a "prominent figure in the Leading Trustees" category of CityWealth Leaders List. Cécile has also been a presiding judge for the STEP Private Client Awards and for WealthBriefing Awards Switzerland & Liechtenstein for many years.

Cécile has qualifications in company law and practice, tax compliance, international trust
management, trust administration and accounts, and trust creation.

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

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.

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.

Edouard Cuendet joined the Geneva Financial Centre Foundation on January 1, 2014. Edouard began his career at Borel & Barbey where he was an associate in its litigation department. From 2000 to 2013, he worked at the Geneva Private Bankers Association and was appointed general secretary in January 2010. His role was to represent the organisation to various local political and economic organisations. He was also its principal spokesman. Since 2004 Edouard has been a member of the Geneva Parliament where he works in the financial commission and on the economy committee.

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.

Justine Markovitz is global chairperson of Withers. She joined the firm in 1999, and in 2005 moved to Switzerland to open and head 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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

Combining both an in-depth knowledge of marketing strategy and business development, Matthew has sat on senior management teams and led significant business growth. His deep experience with HNW/UHNW clients, knowledge of wealth management and expertise in marketing strategy to improve brand awareness, client experience and business development are extensive. Until recently he was Managing Director, Head of Business Development & Marketing at Close Brothers Asset Management having previously held senior management positions at Deutsche Bank, Coutts and Credit Suisse.

Matthias Memminger is a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and has been working as a management consultant since 1995 (Mitchell Madison Group, Accenture and b&m management).

Matthias’ core competency is strategic consulting for European-based banks. He has extensive experience in the field of regulations, particularly with the implementation as well as the impact of business models. In addition to his partner role within PwC, Matthias is the global PwC co-lead for RRP. He is also is the global client relationship partner for UBS at PwC.

Nick Blaydes has 25 years’ experience in corporate finance, with a focus on the financial services sector. Nick is a partner at EY where he leads the financial services corporate finance team in Switzerland. He has an extensive track record in advising clients in the wealth management industry on a variety of strategic development areas, including strategic options analysis, M&A, market entry strategies and co-operations, as well as on valuation and corporate finance issues. Nick is a dual British-Swiss national and is fluent in English and German. He is a graduate of Oxford University and of London School of Economics.

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 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.

Alexandre von Heeren is the managing partner and owner of Basle/Zurich/Zug and Malta-based trust and advisory company Mandaris, where he also acts as executive chairman with overall responsibility for the firms legal & tax, fiduciary & accounting and trust & company services. In addition to his overall board and management responsibilities, Alexandre heads the firm’s structured finance and investment fund solutions services. Alexandre is a member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners, the International Bar Association and the International Fiscal Association. He is also the acting chairman of the Swiss Association of Trust Companies, of which Mandaris is a founding member.

Ariel is a self-employed Partner at Swiss law firm LINDEMANNLAW looking after the legal requirements of international and Swiss UHNWI entrepreneurs, their companies and families. His clients are from the US and UK, Switzerland, Monaco, Poland and Czech Republic. His expertise inter alia comprises M&A, corporate structuring, regulatory advice, relocation, real estate, succession planning, charity etc. He is on the board of successful Swiss, EU and UK companies.

His industry exposure is in energy, solar, water, fertilizer, wealth and asset management, banking, trust, finance instruments including NFT. Beside a doctorate of business administration, Ariel holds an MBA from Rochester NY and an LL.M. of the University of Zurich. He is a STEP, IFA and IISS member.

Edward Lavelle is an experienced trust practitioner having been in the industry for 20 years during which time he has held senior roles in trust companies both in London and Geneva.

Edward is currently a director of the Geneva branch of HSBC Trust Company which he joined in 2002. He is also a committee member of the Geneva branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and is its thesis route liaison officer.

Combining both an in-depth knowledge of marketing strategy and business development, Matthew has sat on senior management teams and led significant business growth. His deep experience with HNW/UHNW clients, knowledge of wealth management and expertise in marketing strategy to improve brand awareness, client experience and business development are extensive. Until recently he was Managing Director, Head of Business Development & Marketing at Close Brothers Asset Management having previously held senior management positions at Deutsche Bank, Coutts and Credit Suisse.

Michael Witschi is a member of senior management at Notenstein Private Bank with responsibility for developing its wealth management business in the French part of Switzerland and providing tailor-made services to high net worth individuals. He brings over 20 years’ experience in the banking industry to the role.

Michael joined Notenstein from UBS Wealth Management where he had been a director for over 8 years.

Tobias Wagner is the founder & CEO of Calliopa Capital, a Zurich based Multi-Family Office. Prior to that he served on the executive committee for Societe Generale Private Banking Switzerland and was their Zurich CEO for 4 years. He spent 10 years as a Managing Director at Credit Suisse overseeing Northern Europe, North & West Latin America and the European business in Singapore. He joined Credit Suisse as Head of PB strategy development and worked as relationship manager Germany offshore. Before joining Credit Suisse he spent 6 years with management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. He is the Chairman of the Board of Goldstrom Group AG, a Singapore & Dubai based gold trading company. Tobias Wagner holds a masters degree in International Business Studies from the University of Maastricht/The Netherlands and management education from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston.