Bernard Stalder, former chief executive of Clariden Leu, has been appointed president of an up-an-coming financial institute.
At the beginning of 2016, F. Bernard Stalder will assume the chairmanship of Sound Capital (formerly Metropol Partners), an independent wealth manager. He replaces Guy Wais, 73, who will retire at the end of 2015.
With the appointment of Stalder, the Zurich-based company landed a coup. The designated chairman enjoys a formidable reputation among the Swiss financial community.
Having spent his early years at UBS and Citibank, Stalder joined Clariden Bank in 1991, a subsidiary of Credit Suisse (CS).
Enviable Reputation
Under his guidance, Clariden's reputation grew to a point where the top brass at Credit Suisse put personal assets in the safe hands of the bankers at the subsidiary - that was at least the story of the insiders.
When CS merged the Clariden and Leu units, Stalder at first remained at the helm of the new company before leaving in November 2007. The banker from the Valais, the region of Zermatt and the Matterhorn, in 2009 accepted the chairmanship at the cantonal bank of his native region.
As he never felt at home in this role, he swapped with the chair at Banque Heritage in 2011, a position he still holds.
Attracting Advisers From Rivals
Sound Capital has a workforce of 42, some 17 partners among them. With 4 billion Swiss francs in assets under management, the Zurich-based company is one of the biggest independent wealth managers of Switzerland. Anthony Cagiati is the driving force behind the firm, which he founded with several former colleagues in 2012. Cagiati previously worked as private banker at Bank Leu and Clariden Leu. René Buehler in mid-2015 was elected chair of the executive board.
Sound Capital plans to play an active role in the consolidation of the private banking industry in Switzerland under the guidance of Stalder, Cagiati told finews.ch. The company wants to attract experienced client advisers from the bigger banks. The firm also wants to expand in emerging markets, mainly in Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Active Chairman
Stalder doesn't foresee any difficulties arising from a dual chairmanship at Heritage and Sound Capital. The international wealth management business was huge and the two institutes active in different markets, making a collision of the two most unlikely, he said.
Stalder plans to become an active chairman, taking influence for instance in portfolio management, which Sound Capital wants to substantially develop. The company adjusted strategy, organization and regulatory structures in the past couple of years, keeping pace with the development of an industry undergoing fundament change, according to Cagiati.
«We are now able to further develop Sound Capital together with Bernard Stalder and strengthen our position as a leading independent asset manager,» Cagiati said.
