The interests of our clients are our top priority: a credo much cited by wealth managers, and one equally important to Fabio Castrovillari, the head of Switzerland at Neuberger Berman asset management. He spoke in an interview with finews.com-TV.

The structure of the firm helps keeping the customer focus at the heart of its business. The bankers bought their business in 2009, it was part of the bankrupt U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

500 Stakeholders at Work

Today, the firm belongs to the 500 partners spread across the globe. They participate in the success of the company. Clients like the fact that we share their interests, said Castrovillari, who also manages the business in Germany and Austria.

Portfolio managers invest their own money according to their allocation strategy, bolstering the trust of their clients in their handling of assets.

Switzerland Is a Key Market

As a consequence, Neuberger Berman today has a very low fluctuation rate among its staff and a steady inflow of assets. The company started with $157 billion in assets under management in 2009. Today, the firm has more than $300 billion in assets.

Neuberger Berman won’t reveal how much each country unit manages, but the Switzerland business probably has an amount under management measuring up to the double-digits. Castrovillari says Switzerland is a key market and added that the firm increased the number of clients and staff fourfold over a period of ten years.

Difficult 2018

Still, 2018 also affected Neuberger Berman in Switzerland, according to Castrovillari. The new year had started more positively however and he was optimistic for all asset classes.