The French multinational has completed the realignment of its Swiss activities on the Wealth Management side and will from now on focus on growing its Wealth Management focusing in particular on Swiss  entrepreneurs. A central building block underpinning this strategy is the lending business.

BNP Paribas has reoriented its activities in Switzerland over the past years. Today, Wealth Management and the servicing of entrepreneurs are a key pillar of the strategy.

From May 2025 the Swiss unit has been run as a branch of BNP Paribas Paris. Accordingly, separate financial figures will no longer be published; finews reported on this. «The exit from commodity trade finance was completed back in 2022 with the respective slim-down completely finished, we closed 2025 positively and want to keep growing here,» says Swiss head Enna Pariset.

Growth with Swiss Clients

A clear focus is placed on Swiss entrepreneurs. «Four years after the start of the offensive, roughly 30 % of the assets under management come from Swiss clients,» Pariset notes.

CIB is another pillar of the business and revenues with Swiss clients globally  amounted to €1 billion in 2024 and continued to grow in 2025. According to the new Growth plan, these should rise to roughly €1.5 billion by 2030.

Lending as a Differentiation Factor

A key element of the Wealth Management strategy is the lending business. BNP Paribas positions itself as a provider of complex financing solutions for entrepreneurs and highnetworth private clients.

«Offering a €150 million singlestock loan in Switzerland is something very few banks do. Thanks to our strong balance sheet and expertise, such deals are part of our core business,» said Yusuf Savmaz, CEO of Wealth Management Switzerland.

An additional focus is on expanding the mortgage franchise. “That is a relatively young business and we see a lot of potential there, especially that thanks to AXA Investment Managers we gained outstanding real estate expertise in Switzerland in particular” explains Pariset.

Integration of AXA Investment Managers

BNP Paribas expects additional impetus from the integration of AXA Investment Managers, currently managing CHF 75.5bn in assets for Swiss clients, of which CHF 52.4bn in Switzerland.

In Switzerland there will be no major organisational changes. “The Swiss asset management business of AXA IM will remain a standalone firm with its own CEO. But of course we will work very closely together to give our clients an even larger product selection,” says Pariset.

Clear Positioning in Private Banking

In classic Private Banking the entry threshold in Switzerland is around CHF 5 million. BNP Paribas follows a differentiated approach depending on the client segment.

«For Swiss clients the limit is a little lower; for new relationships with MiddleEast clients it is higher because of the higher regulatory requirements,» Savmaz explained.

AI Initiatives out of Zurich

A central component of the model is the linkage with Corporate and Investment Banking. «Many entrepreneurs have their assets locked in the company and have little liquidity. Our deep knowledge of those firms through Corporate and Investment Banking helps us assess our risks,» Savmaz adds.

In the investmentmanagement area BNP Paribas relies on classic strategies; digital assets currently play no active role. «We are not the right bank for that,» says Pariset.

At the same time the bank is investing in new technologies. BNP Paribas is working on agentic artificialintelligence projects together with Zurich fintech Unique. Enna Pariset states: «We are proud to be able to roll out one of the solutions of the young Swiss firm for the International Wealth Management business of the Group.»  This also underscores our focus on supporting Swiss start-ups in technology.