Swiss Wealth Management and Financial Services in Switzerland

Switzerland has long been a popular destination for the world's key international for Swiss wealth management and financial services. Sure it has attracted its fair share of wealth, but historically more for its private banking than as a base for businesses.

However, recent changes in the legislation have led to a shift in this traditional position and an increased interest in relocation to Switzerland. It offers favorable tax treatment not just for high Net worth individuals and Celebrities in Switzerland but also to sport stars and business people. Our usual tax rates are low and non-Swiss nationals residing in Switzerland benefit from the lump sum tax.

Note from Rene

I hope this information is useful for you. This page is not advice, just the results of my research. Please do not base any decisions upon this – advice on financial services or on Swiss Wealth Management is not my profession. If you want solid, professional advice or have any questions…

Drop me a line at the form "Contact Me" and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

You know that Europe has some heavily overtaxed countries. Our neighboring countries Germany and France for example have a tax bracket of over 45% when the income is over 250,000 Euro. Below that amount it is of course a little lower. In all of the Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland with their very expensive social systems, people pay over 50% taxes in most cases.

Outside of Europe, Canada is overtaxing its citizens as well and the government is wasteful. In the 80’s while working in Canada as a young pilot, I paid about 42% annually or 5 months of my hard-earned cash to "Revenue Canada" for taxes.

It is certainly not any better in the USA; in fact, few nations pursue taxation with the vigilance and brutality of the United States. Not to forget the lawsuites that are bothering today's business owners in the USA.

Reason enough to take a serious look into private banking and into Swiss wealth management...

Private banking used to be viewed as something very exclusive. Only high Net worth individuals with liquidity over $1 million had access to it. However today, it has changed and you do not have to be a millionaire nor a billionaire anymore to take advantage.

The large-sized Swiss banks are still mostly targeting high Net worth customers - and the world's ultra high Net worth individuals still prefer to park their wealth in Switzerland. Yes, Swiss wealth management is still in. However, there are some mid-sized Swiss banks that are starting with $ 300,000 and as low as $ 50,000 to open a private Swiss bank account and manage your funds.

Many people may be wondering why exactly Switzerland. After all, there are more so called offshore heavens in this world. For most high Net worth individuals or celebrities residing in Switzerland, protecting their assets were not the only reason they came for. They also wanted security and privacy and the high quality of life that Switzerland provides for their families.

The Swiss banks are holding deposits just under a third of the world's private wealth. Which means that almost 30 per cent of the global amount of private wealth – so called offshore capital - is held in Swiss Bank Accounts.

In terms of total deposits in offshore financial centres, only the Cayman Islands are close. In fact, the global market is dominated by the two key jusrisdictions Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.

The two flourishing cities Singapore and Hong Kong still held only 3 and 4 per cent of global offshore wealth. They still have a long way to go before they can claim to be wealth-management capitals on a par with Switzerland. The assets under management at Singapore private banks total about $200 billion. Responsible for this rise increase are new wealthy clients in Asia.

In the 200 largest banks in our country, the total amount of assets under Swiss Wealth Management including domestic and institutional money stood at 6.9 trillion Swiss francs ($US 5,538 trillion) at the end of 2005.

Switzerland is also home to Credit Suisse, which ranks in the top 10 and UBS, the world's largest wealth manager. The latter has more than $2 trillion under Swiss wealth management. That sure helps to explain why many of the smartest mutual fund managers around have been grabing up shares of UBS or Credit Suisse.

There are of course many excellent mid-sized banks that do an excellent job in wealth management. Personally, I think the smaller Banks like Pictet & Cie, Wegelin & Co, Bordier & Cie, Reichmuth & Co, LODH & Cie and many more are a good choice. For most, this private banks are a much better choice because they offer top service also to individuals who don´t invest a large amount of capital.

However, a good alternate are "External Asset Managers" (EAM), who look after the private banking and investment needs of individual and corporate clients. This is done in partnership with a bank and with exactly the same services as you would get from a Swiss private bank.

The key advantages are that you can select the best from the entire financial marketplace. You are not restricted to the product-offering of any one bank and there is also no extra cost for you. Many serious Swiss Wealth Management companies offer different services to multiply and protect your assets. This includes the services of forex brokers in Switzerland who also need a bank license before practicing their professions.

So there are many benefits for foreign clients like...

• No Swiss taxation - - there is no tax of assets held in a Swiss account for non-Swiss residents.

• Banking secrecy - - Any information about bank accounts and customers to a third party is a criminal offence under Swiss law.

• High-interest deposits - - Swiss banks pay higher and competitive rates of interest for client accounts with above-average size deposits.

• Professional Service - - The clients interests come first by selling suitable products. And not the other way around where brokers and banks worldwide put their interests first.

• Low commissions - - The commissions on buying and selling funds and securities compare favorable with those in Swiss banks.

• Diversification - - External asset managers work only with Swiss banks that have a high credit rating and where your asset are secure.

• Convenience - - Swiss banks permit you to joint accounts. This means that your account continues as normal without being frozen should the account holder pass away.

So this provides a high security from which you can truly benefit from the protection of the Swiss banking privacy and from the strict banking secrecy laws. The only exceptions to this rule are in cases involving serious crimes such as narcotics trafficking, terrorism and gun smuggling.

As I said before, it was not that long ago that the smaller player was simply locked out of the exclusive club. Today however, using Swiss wealth management firms are open to more of us and...

...financial concerns are what bother almost any individual today. It is certainly not very comfortable to live life always worrying if tomorrow everything you ever owned would suddenly disappear. The danger that somebody could sue you is reality or you could be in the process for an ugly divorce.

You will save much more immediately while making your assets invulnerable to seizures and lawsuits - and as ironic as it may sound, you are assured better security, privacy and offshore benefits in Switzerland rather than your own country.

Nevertheless, Switzerland is a very attractive centre for private banking and has a long-standing experience in the wealth management business. And lets not forget that we have also a rich tradition of innovation and high quality coupled with a large pool of internationally-experienced bankers.

This ideal combination of local advantages is difficult to copy in other offshore heavens and still pumps a large amount of money into the industry.

Taking full advantage from Swiss Wealth Management are the three hundred wealthiest "ultra high Net worth individuals" and "famous people" living in Switzerland which possess more than 455 Billion Swiss Francs - ($ 380.3 Billion). That is an average of 1.516 Billion Swiss Francs - ($ 1.246 Billion) for each individual.

Mind you that about half of those individuals are of Swiss nationality. The 10 wealthiest individuals (many foreigners) living in Switzerland possess an unbelievable 123 Billion Swiss Francs. That is almost double the amount than from the 100 richest just 18 years ago. That explains that the Swiss Wealth Management system is here to stay for some time longer.

If you need some professional advice on financial services, please do not consider my thoughts on this page to be that. Instead, write me a note on the "Contact Me" form.

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