At the 9th Private Banking Day, organised by the VSPB and VAV in Zurich, representatives from the financial sector, industry, government and academia discussed how technological change, increasing geopolitical tensions and rapidly changing consumer behaviour are affecting the importance of ‘Swissness’ in private banking today.

Giorgio Pradelli, President of the VAV and CEO of EFG International, is confident about the future of Switzerland as a financial centre, particularly in the area of asset management: “Our financial centre has a unique ecosystem that contributes significantly to our success. The banks compete in a healthy environment, and we benefit from an excellent talent pool and geographical proximity. This promotes innovation and leads to excellent quality. Even though we pursue individual strategies, we Swiss private banks agree that Swissness is part of our DNA.‘

The event was kicked off by Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, with a message from the Swiss government in which he praised the Swiss economy as a whole as an outstanding example of ’Swissness”.

Chris Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, spoke about the importance of Swissness in the watch industry and the challenge of constantly rethinking tradition and innovation.

A high-calibre panel featuring Daniela Stoffel, State Secretary for International Finance, Simone Wyss Fedele, CEO Switzerland Global Enterprise, Prof. François Degeorge, Managing Director Swiss Finance Institute, and Georg Schubiger, Vice President VAV and Co-CEO Vontobel, discussed in particular how ‘Swissness’ can help private banking in Switzerland remain competitive and successful