Vontobel expanding Wealth Management Business with Italian Clients

As part of its wealth management growth strategy, Vontobel will be expanding its business with Italian clients in 2020 and opening a new advisory office in Milan. In future, Vontobel will have its own, larger team in place to offer Italian clients on-site advice regulated under Italian law. Up until now, Italian wealth management clients have been managed exclusively by Vontobel experts in Zurich, Locarno and Lugano.

Vontobel had already strengthened its presence in Ticino, and with it its business with Italian clients in Switzerland, through the takeover of Finter Bank in 2015 and Notenstein La Roche Privatbank AG in 2018.

Parallel to the expansion of business with Italian wealth management clients, Dr oec. Gianpiero Galasso, who has joined Vontobel from Credit Suisse, will take up the position as Head Wealth Management Latin Europe and Middle East on May 1, 2020, and will thus take charge of the Wealth Management teams in French-speaking Switzerland, Ticino and the new team in Milan.

Vontobel has been providing investment expertise to its wealth management clients in French-speaking Switzerland and the Middle East through its Geneva office since the early 1990s. For the past two years Vontobel has also maintained a branch in Lausanne.

Gianpiero Galasso will succeed Luigi Carnelli (63) who, together with his teams, has expanded the successful business in Ticino and with Italian clients since 2016. Luigi Carnelli will continue to support Vontobel wealth management clients in future as Vice Chairman Italy, and will also oversee the further expansion of the team in Milan under the leadership of Gianpiero Galasso. Gianpiero Galasso will take over the management of the advising teams at the Geneva and Lausanne offices from Georg Schubiger, Head of Wealth Management. He will also become a member of the Wealth Management Board.

Gianpiero Galasso is a graduate in business administration and was Managing Director at Credit Suisse Zurich in the International Wealth Management Division. There, he most recently headed the department International Private Clients Southern, Northern and Emerging Europe, Middle East/Africa and Latin America. In total, Gianpiero Galasso has spent more than 25 years in various management positions of Credit Suisse Wealth Management in different regions throughout the world, and has made a decisive contribution to the development of the Credit Suisse strategy for wealthy clients and HNWI.

In addition to his studies and his PhD at the University of Zurich, Gianpiero Galasso holds a Dual Executive MBA from Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh and the University of Geneva.

"Italy and above all its northern regions are among the focus markets of Vontobel in which we wish to grow further. Our new office in Milan represents the next step in this process, and we will in future also be available to Italian wealth management clients on site. I am pleased that we have succeeded in securing the services of an eminent wealth management expert in the person of Gianpiero Galasso, who has not only been familiar with the business for many years but also with the people in the regions. With his knowledge he will contribute towards the continuation of our growth story in Ticino and Italy as well as in French-speaking Switzerland and the Middle East", explains Georg Schubiger, Head of Wealth Management.

Since the turn of the year Vontobel has positioned itself as a purely client-oriented investment house that offers its clients investment solutions tailored to their individual requirements, including through the use of modern technology. From Vontobel's perspective, the demand for investment solutions will continue to grow against the background of ongoing low interest rates and, not least, also as a result of the pension gap that is estimated at around CHF 16 billion worldwide.

"Investing is the new form of saving. This will also apply to the time after the coronavirus", according to Georg Schubiger. "My special thanks are due to Luigi Carnelli who has made a decisive contribution to the development of our business in Ticino and with Italian clients in recent years. We are pleased that Luigi Carnelli will remain available to our clients in future with his expertise, and will develop our new wealth management office in Milan."

Even today, Vontobel already has a large asset management team in Milan. In addition, the investment manager is one of the leading providers of structured products on the Italian market.

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Vontobel
At Vontobel, we actively shape the future. We create and pursue opportunities with determination. We master what we do – and we only do what we master. This is how we get our clients ahead. As a globally active investment manager with Swiss roots, we specialize in wealth management, active asset management and investment solutions. We harness the power of technology to deliver a high-quality, individual client experience and to deploy our investment expertise across multiple platforms and ecosystems. We empower our employees to take ownership of their work and bring opportunities to life. We do so based on the conviction that successful investing begins with the assumption of personal responsibility. We continuously scrutinize our achievements as we strive to exceed the expectations of our clients. The registered shares of the Vontobel Holding AG are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The Vontobel families' close ties to the company guarantee our entrepreneurial independence. We consider the resulting freedom as an obligation to also assume our social responsibility. As of March 24, 2020, Vontobel held CHF 248.1 billion of total client assets. Around the world and in our home market, we serve our clients from 26 locations.

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