The shift in positioning has been articulated through the “Welcome to Syzerland” campaign. It emphasises the group’s unique selling proposition and combination of three client benefits:
- Alignment of interests: As a family founded, owned and managed private bank, Syz focuses on the long-term prosperity of its clients’ wealth by creating an alignment of interest between shareholders, managers and clients – who can also invest alongside the Syz family.
- Best of both worlds: The Bank offers Swiss bank solidity and boutique agility. Coming from a strong tradition of solid, Swiss private banking, Syz builds on its boutique size and honed business model to remain flexible, agile and focused on tailored solutions.
- Pioneering investment opportunities: Led by a family of entrepreneurs, the Bank seeks to secure uncorrelated sources of return and pioneers’ access to innovative investment opportunities.
Commenting on the strategic positioning, Yvan Gaillard, Syz Bank CEO, said:
“Our corporate positioning reflects what we stand for: a unique alternative to traditional private banking. As the Swiss banking landscape evolves, we are proud to offer a wealth management experience as unique as our clients, merging Swissness, agility, family values, and innovation.”
Front office revamp
Syz Bank has strengthened its front office leadership to enhance the client focus, providing client-facing teams with more managerial support and additional resources. Spearheading the enhanced proposition, Philippe Turrian, former head of client solutions and marketing and communications, joins Nicolas Syz as co-head of wealth management.
The two deeply experienced leaders will be collectively responsible for the front’s office teams. Philippe will bring the teams responsible for shaping the bank’s product and services offering and business development support closer to client facing teams, ensuring they have the right set-up to deliver the best client service. This will allow Nicolas to focus on expanding and deepening client relationships both domestically and internationally.
As part of its strategy, Syz Bank announces a series of key senior appointments to the front office. Konstadinos Hatzinikolis will be joining Syz Bank as the new head of Europe International, taking over the leadership of the current Europe and Middle East teams. He joins from HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) where he spent the last 20 years in various senior management roles driving business development and as a member of its Executive Committee since 2019.
The bank has also made two further distinguished hires: Jürg Schmid as head of sales management and Ron Jacobs as head of wealth planning. Schmid was head of the key clients team for Switzerland and EMEA at Julius Baer, while Jacobs was the international private bank head of wealth planning for EMEA at Deutsche Bank.
Furthermore, Pablo Astengo, will take on a new role as head of pension solutions and financial planning. In this position, he will support Syz Bank’s growth in Switzerland by focusing on expanding the Swiss pension solutions business, leveraging the bank’s strong positioning in this area.
Syz Bank, co-head of wealth management, Nicolas Syz, added:
“We are delighted to welcome these exceptional leaders to our team. Their proven track record in delivering outstanding service to private clients across Europe and international markets positions them perfectly to help drive the next phase of growth for Syz Bank. Their deep understanding of evolving client needs will be instrumental in shaping a truly client-centric and unique wealth management organisation.”