More and more highly successful bankers are leaving their well-paid jobs at big companies for a life at less well-known firms, where they can put to use their entrepreneurial spirit and where they enjoy a much higher degree of independence.
J.P. Morgan, Union Bancaire Privée, Goldman Sachs – three big-name banks where Andrea Tardy (pictured below) developed into one of Switzerland's most successful private bankers. The career of French-speaking Swiss of Italian descent spans more than two decades. Now, he's decided to leave the big corporate institutions in favor of a small family office.
Tardy will become a partner at Stonehage Fleming in Geneva, the company said in a statement on Monday. Stonehage Fleming is one of Europe's biggest multi family offices, taking care of the affairs of some 250 families with assets of $40 billion. The company, which has about 500 employees, is based in London and has an investment unit that has about $12 billion in assets under management.
Overseeing Swiss Expansion
The company was formed in 2014 following a merger between Fleming Family & Partners and Stonehage, a South-African firm with its headquarters in London. Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond cult films, is a relative of the British business partners.
Tardy will oversee the further development of Stonehage Fleming in Switzerland, a market that his new company judges as highly important. The company has offices in Zurich, Geneva and Neuchâtel, according to Stonehage Fleming CEO Mark McMullen.
«Stonehage Fleming are pioneers of the family office industry, with their multi-disciplinary advisory model which combines international tax advice, fiduciary services, art management and corporate finance with an independent asset management offering,» said Tardy, according to the statement. «In the changing landscape of wealth management they are well positioned to address the challenges and respond to the evolving needs of successful entrepreneurs and families of wealth.»
Not the First Leaver
Tardy isn't the only established banker to leave the comfort zone of a big company in favor of the relative freedom of a smaller firm. An example of which was Alexander Classen, the former CEO of Coutts International who joined Bedrock as a partner. Bedrock is Europe's third-largest family office in Europe.
Oliver Bussmann, a former head of innovations at UBS, Barend Fruithof, head of Switzerland at private bank Julius Baer and Christian Katz, a one-time CEO of SIX Swiss Exchange, are other executives to have taken the climb.
Other prominent managers include Rajiv Jain, erstwhile at Bank Vontobel and now at an investment outfit called GQG, or Pamela Graham-Thomas, a marketing guru at Credit Suisse (CS) turned luxury goods blogger, and of course CS CEO Brady Dougan who is currently developing his own tailor-made investment bank on Wall Street.
Life's Tough at the Top
It appears that the job as a top executive at major international companies isn't as attractive as it used to be before the financial crisis. This may in part be a reflection of the increasing regulation, and its twin – compliance – which makes life at big banks cumbersome.
The need to constantly lower costs and work according to streamlined business procedures are adding to the allure of smaller entities, where bankers such as Andrea Tardy may be able to realign their work reality with their true vocation.
