Swiss multi-family offices join forces for scale and geographic reach
Wealthy families are increasingly looking beyond private banks towards multi-family offices, a trend which has led to consolidation within Switzerland’s multi-family office sector (Akos Stiller/Bloomberg)
Multi-family offices are consolidating as Switzerland’s wealthiest families seek institutional asset management capabilities and expand client bases in different cities and consultants are reporting that external Swiss asset managers are also feeling consolidation pressures.
According to Michel Bossong, senior pensions expert at the Asset Management Association Switzerland, consolidation in the multi-family office landscape has left around 20 large players competing to attract wealthy families.
These families are increasingly looking beyond private banks in favour of multi-family offices, which offer institutional-style portfolios and the benefits of scale, Bossong says.
"They want to do private assets investing, but they also want to gain economies of scale and leverage what they have built in their operations, IT and compliance," he says.
Swiss multi-family offices taking the consolidation plunge in recent years include Lugano-based Veco Group, which announced a merger with Zurich family office Swisspath Group in November 2024.
Alessandro Lardi, Swisspath Group founding partner and now Veco Group's managing partner, said the move would help "establish one of Switzerland's major independent multi-family offices", providing opportunities for the firm's clients and partners. The move saw the headcount for the combined business rise to more than 70.
When Bodewise merged with Zurich's Cottonfield Family Office at the end of last year, Julian Boaden, co-founder and managing partner of Bodewise, said that the partnership would allow the bigger office to "[seize] new opportunities in a targeted way".
Consolidation has also brought together smaller private wealth managers and family offices as they seek to expand their asset management capabilities.
When Swiss wealth manager Alasia merged with MFO Belvoir Capital at the end of 2024, Luca Venturini, chief executive of Alasia's owner PKB Private Bank, said the deal would make a "powerful combination" with "enhanced investment capabilities".
“Classical” multi-family offices “don’t have the breadth and depth of capabilities established [asset managers] have”, meaning they do not tend to be “major competition for established [managers]”
The pressure to consolidate is also being felt by external asset managers.
Felix Wenger, leader of McKinsey's European wealth and asset management practice, says managers are experiencing "momentum for consolidation", driven by a desire for greater scale and efficiency.
While Wenger says the industry "might see more competition in the family office client segment", many "classical" multi-family offices "don't have the breadth and depth of capabilities established [asset managers] have", meaning they do not tend to be "major competition for established [managers]".
Private equity companies have also joined the consolidation drive, buying up asset managers in a series of acquisitions, Wenger adds.
Family offices move into new cities
Echoing Bossong's comments, Wenger affirms that there is a trend for wealthy families to rely more on multi-family offices and less on traditional banks, while cultivating a greater number of relationships with external managers.
Wenger adds that multi-family offices increasing their geographical footprint and broadening their distribution is a "common rationale for multi-family offices to seek takeover opportunities, alongside investment management and asset management capabilities, though to a lesser extent".
In November last year, Amadeus Capital — a multi-family office and asset manager based in Geneva — acquired the operations of Amasus Investment, giving the business a stronger footprint in Zurich.
Amadeus's chief executive Tim Brockmann said the move "combines Amadeus's strength and experience with the local expertise and proximity of the Amasus team".
Geographic expansion is important, because of the different types of client groups that define the two cities.
Christophe Caspar, chief executive of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management, says that while Zurich is "dominated by some of the largest [financial investors] in the country", Geneva "is characterised by a broad base of family offices and private banks".