Banking Barometer 2018: Pictet
No longer content to play in its corner, Pictet with Boris Collardi as its newest partner, expanded beyond its traditional stronghold of French-speaking Geneva into German-speaking Zurich. The expansion marked the first of its kind in the bank’s history and sent a clear message as to the seriousness of its intent when it moved into the historical Leuenhof building (pictured below) on Bahnhofstrasse, right across the street from Julius Baer’s flagship offices.
The new address is a serious upgrade from its Freigutstrasse office. No less than Marc Pictet, group partner, said the move «underlines the importance of Zurich and German-speaking Switzerland for the activities of the Pictet Group.» It also puts the bank right next to the Julius Baer bankers it may want to lure away.
While the Julius Baer stock slipped by as much as 35 percent from its highs in 2018, privately held Pictet – which is under no compulsion to divulge financial information – delivered a strong set of results, hiking profits by a staggering 30 percent.
