Laurent Gagnebin: «Rothschild & Co Sees Steady Growth in Israel»
Despite declining client deposits, the Swiss-based Rothschild & Co Bank achieved growth in the first half of 2025 – driven by solid results in Europe and a successful start in the Middle East.
Laurent Gagnebin, why are you not expanding into Asia, for example, to Singapore?
We serve Asian clients from Switzerland. Within the Rothschild & Co Group, the Wealth Management business focuses primarily on European core markets.
Our aim is to establish a strong market position everywhere in these markets. This has already been achieved in Switzerland, Germany, France, and the UK. In other countries, such as Italy or Spain, we are currently investing.
In the first half of 2025, Rothschild & Co experienced a decline in assets under management. What went wrong?
Last year, we recorded record-high client inflows. From the second quarter of 2025, however, we felt the impact of increased market volatility and currency effects. The weak dollar in particular – as we hold many client assets in this currency – led to lower valuations.
Net new money totaled 535 million francs in the first six months of 2025. Which developments contributed most to this volume?
The Swiss business delivered a strong result, and the majority of our international offices also contributed to the positive net new money. The inflows reflect robust operational performance in a challenging environment.
How does the growth dynamic differ between Switzerland and the foreign branches?
In Switzerland, we clearly benefit from years of groundwork, strong networks, and investments in new services. Here, we achieved significant growth in client assets.
«On average, our relationship managers serve only around 30 clients»
In developing markets such as Spain and Israel, client demand has also been positive. Our launch in Dubai was particularly strong.
How can Rothschild & Co continue to grow in Switzerland?
We are growing steadily in both Geneva and Zurich. Our long-term investments in personalized advice are paying off. We want our relationship managers to have the necessary time for clients – on average, they serve only about 30 clients. With this approach and above-average investment performance, we still see great potential for organic growth in Switzerland.
This will also be supported by the expansion of our advisory services in wealth succession, retirement planning, inheritance, and estate execution. To strengthen this offering, we recently acquired Tenalis.
Do you currently see further private banks in Switzerland as potential acquisition targets?
Our primary focus is on organic growth. We do occasionally review a dossier, but we are very selective.
«In these uncertain times, clients are seeking orientation and security»
For us, it is very important that the family and corporate values of Rothschild & Co are aligned, and that any potential partner fits our advisory approach. This includes a long-term perspective in client relationships and no wrong short-term financial incentives for relationship managers.
To what extent does Swiss banking still offer added value compared to foreign banks and financial centers?
Just as the Swiss franc offers something that is currently in high demand, so do Swiss private banks: stability and reliability. In these uncertain times, clients are seeking orientation and security.
In addition, the Swiss financial center is highly international and has extensive experience in managing complex, globally dispersed wealth. The attractiveness of Switzerland for very wealthy families has even increased in recent years.
What impact do geopolitical conflicts have on your markets in Israel and Dubai?
So far, the situation in Israel has had no impact on our business. That may come as a surprise. But we are growing steadily in Israel. In Dubai, we are still quite new, but the business there is also developing positively, and we have already been able to hire additional relationship managers.
«We serve Asian clients from Switzerland»
The potential in Dubai is very large, not least because we are also very strong there with our Global Advisory business in M&A and corporate finance.
You restructured operations in various (European) markets. Why, and what results have these measures produced?
We have reorganized our business in Luxembourg. With the acquisition of Banque Pâris Bertrand in Switzerland four years ago, we also gained an office in Luxembourg. We have now merged this with our French wealth management, which is also active in Belgium. From a group perspective, this makes more sense.
What priorities have you set to ensure growth and success over the next 18 months?
We continue to invest in expanding relationship manager capacity in all markets. Everywhere we see growth potential.
«Another focus is strengthening our entrepreneur offering»
In Switzerland, the focus is on further strengthening comprehensive client advisory. The acquisition of Tenalis plays an important role here. We want to show Tenalis clients that we can also support them and their families in traditional wealth management.
At the same time, we can now provide our clients with the best possible service in estate execution and inheritance matters. Another focus is strengthening our entrepreneur offering.
Finally, we want to further facilitate client access to private markets, as this asset class continues to offer attractive return opportunities. This is done together with Five Arrows, the private equity division within the Rothschild & Co Group.
Laurent Gagnebin joined Rothschild Wealth Management Equitas, the Geneva-based arm of Zurich’s Rothschild & Co Bank, in autumn 2011. Before that, he headed Investec Bank in Geneva. He began his banking career at Goldman Sachs Bank in Geneva after graduating from the École hôtelière de Lausanne and working for several years in the hotel industry. Since mid-2016, he has served as CEO of Rothschild Bank in Switzerland.
