Leonteq Chief Executive Jan Schoch has a new project. He and former associates are developing a financial services platform for the ultra-wealthy, finews.asia can reveal.
The Leonteq founder’s newest firm is called Flynt and targets an autumn start date. The 39-year-old Schoch confirmed finews.asia’s information, but didn’t elaborate.
Flynt is building a digital service platform aimed at ultra-wealthy clients and at family offices. The start-up has also received a bank license, finews.asia has learned, but apparently Flynt has no plans to enter transactional banking.
Flynt's share capital is 1 million Swiss francs.
35-Person Team
Flynt is registered in Gonten, a hamlet in Appenzell in eastern Switzerland, but the firm’s entire development is taking place in Zug (pictured below). There, a 35-person team is building the platform’s software.
On a company website that Flynt has already put up, the firm says that it wants to «inspire entrepreneurs to achieve their life’s worth. It plans to do this by offering agile software development, saying «wealth is a gateway to opportunity,» using simplicity and security in technology.
Fintech Bank for Exclusive Clientele
That effectively means that Flynt will be a digital bank for the ultra-rich and for entrepreneurs, linked to a service offering with «customer experience,» when breaking down the website’s marketing jargon.
That is to say that Flynt is a fintech for high-end asset managers who prefer a digital service offering instead of a personal one. This fits the tech-savvy approach of Schoch, who has referred to «his» Leonteq as a fintech firm.
Schoch as Investor and Founder
Flynt’s definition of itself as a fintech is underscored by its membership in the Global Fintech Association, a group which Schoch initiated recently with Christina Kehl.
According to finews.asia inquiries, Schoch himself is no longer active in the firm, which he founded in 2014. He handed over board chairmanship to Jasmin Schmuki last year. She is a former Credit Suisse and Raiffeisen banker who has been head of Jan Schoch Holding since this year.
Besides Schoch, Alexander Rueegg and Christoph Baumann have also invested in Flynt.
Leonteq's Trickiest Phase
Both are associates of Schoch from Leonteq. Flynt CEO Rueegg was IT head at the derivatives firm who moved to banking software provider Finnova as development head. Baumann is Rueegg’s deputy.
Schoch, who owns 6.5 percent of Leonteq, is experiencing the firm’s most difficult phase since it was founded in 2007.
Surprising Share Gains
Leonteq has suffered a massive loss of trust following various share price drops. Schoch’s growth story of Leonteq’s infinitely scalable platform is no longer entirely convincing to investors. Thus is it all the more surprising that Leonteq has apparently found a new and active investor last week.
The firm Veraison bought 3.22 percent of Leonteq’s shares, according to a stock market disclosure on Thursday. Gregor Greber, founder of asset manager zCapital, and Valentin Chapero, the former head of hearing aid firm Sonova, are behind Veraison. Leonteq’s stock rose roughly 20 percent following the disclosure.
Founders are Clients
Schoch has always emphasized how his focus lies fully with Leonteq. As a result, he is expected to maintain an investor’s role in Flynt – and that of a client. According to finews.ch’ information, Flynt’s first clients are its founders.
