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Avaloq CEO Juerg Hunziker talks initial public offering and settling in with founder-owner Francisco Fernandez with finews.asia.

Juerg Hunziker, how have you settled in after taking over from founder-owner Francisco Fernandez?

It takes time to find each other and settle in. It helps that this year is a lot calmer than 2018: finishing the Raiffeisen project was very important for us. We know each others’ strengths and weaknesses, and we complement each other well.

What are the difficulties of taking over from someone who has run the company alone from infancy?

It’s exceptional for a founder to remain in sole control of a company for so long without any outside investors. I think you automatically have to become the sort of person that cannot listen to everyone, but follow their vision.

«Hours debating, like a marriage»

Letting go after 30 years of deciding on your own takes time, and I think we have achieved that together.

What surprised you most about this phase?

I had underestimated the time and energy needed to get used to each other. We would spend hours debating with each other, much as you would in a marriage. The Raiffeisen partnership was an additional uncertainty.

How did this affect your business?

Francisco and I now spend about three-quarters of our time on company matters, and maybe one-quarter on ourselves. It takes a lot of explaining and listening to understand each other.

«Project high single-digit growth rate»

At the start, we would spend as much as half of our time preoccupied with ourselves. We now have a relationship based on trust and respect.

How much growth do you expect next year?

A high single-digit rate of revenue growth. We’ve absorbed the loss of BSI, and have lost no clients of note.

What does your pipeline look like? 

It’s healthy, and we’re seeing names we wouldn’t have seen a few years ago. Our biggest competition is the banks’ proprietary technology.

«Some larger banks can no longer muster the resources»

We’re seeing larger banks admit they can no longer muster the resources to build their own systems.

Can you be more specific?

We expect to sign about ten new clients every year, several in the coming months. We see opportunities across Europe and in Asia. Many banks are under threat in their retail operations through upstarts like N26 and are shifting more into affluent banking. This means growth for us.