Many large banks are increasingly neglecting the segment of clients with assets under 1 million Swiss francs, offering these «affluent clients» only off-the-shelf investment solutions. Meanwhile, smaller banks and wealth managers often lack the expertise and infrastructure to cater to the individual needs of this group. This is, at least, the diagnosis according to Sacha Fedier, CEO of VT Wealth Management.

Now the Zurich-based wealth manager promises to remedy this by offering customized portfolios, which are only available at banks for assets starting at 5 million francs. Thus, the firm not only aims to be a haven for unhappy bankers, as finews.com reported in 2022, but evidently also for dissatisfied banking clients.

Liquid, Transparent, Diversified, and Flexible

To achieve this, VT Wealth Management is launching two investment strategies focusing on equities and bonds, based on its in-house recommendation list, the «Equity & Bond Masterlist.» These strategies are embedded in a UCITS fund structure and are designed to be liquid, transparent, diversified, secure, and, of course, profitable. The portfolio components are modular, meaning they can be flexibly adapted to individual risk profiles and supplemented with additional investment themes (satellites).

This would provide affluent clients access to the investment philosophy that VT Wealth Management has been using for its wealthiest clients for 16 years, says Fedier.

«Entertainment Value» for the Client

To meet the transparency requirement, clients receive detailed monthly reports and performance evaluations, along with analyses of sector allocation and portfolio changes, as well as a list of individual positions. Fedier explains: «Clients gain clarity and understanding about how their money is being invested – and additionally benefit from the so-called entertainment value.»

«Why shouldn’t smaller investors benefit from the same investment strategies as our large clients?» asks Raphael Brunner, the portfolio manager responsible for the new offering, rhetorically. «But for that, you need to create scalability without losing individuality.» This is only possible through the «intelligent use» of software and technology – including, but not limited to, AI.

Skin in the Game

The owners of VT, Sacha Fedier and his father Thomas Fedier, are also investing in the new products, ensuring they have «skin in the game.»

VT Wealth Management was founded in 2008 by Thomas Fedier and Joseph A. Belle and today has 35 employees. The Fedier family seems to have a natural affinity for the banking business. The current VT CEO’s grandfather once led the branch of the former SBG in Baden.