Chris Künzle: «Swiss Private Banking Struggles With Weak Inflows»

Chris Künzle: «Swiss Private Banking Struggles With Weak Inflows»

Swiss private banks appear to be thriving, but a closer look reveals weaknesses, says financial expert and lecturer Chris Künzle in an interview with finews.asia. His annual study offers the clearest evidence.

Chris Künzle, Singapore’s financial center is often described as the Switzerland of Asia. Do you agree with that comparison?

It’s not a coincidence that people draw that parallel. While Singapore is smaller in scale, it has positioned itself very successfully with family offices and specialised corporate structures – tax-efficient and, in a way, «non-aligned» in Asia, much like Switzerland traditionally was.

So yes, there are clear similarities, even though each centre has its own strengths. When I speak with Swiss private bankers, I often hear that they don’t see Singapore so much as a competitor, but rather as a source of inspiration and motivation.

Where do you see the opportunities and challenges for a financial hub like Singapore?

Singapore has built a reputation as a highly innovative and competitive wealth management centre, thanks in large part to the proactive approach of its regulator, MAS, which combines stability with a strong push for innovation. For international clients, this makes Singapore an attractive location in times of geopolitical uncertainty.

On the flip side, rising costs and tighter regulations around money laundering and family offices are creating new challenges. But in many ways, those developments also signal Singapore’s ambition to be recognized as a mature and stable financial centre.

You recently founded the company FIN21 in Zurich and, with your WealthSummits, you organize two major events for the financial industry. What is the idea behind this?

We want to close a gap that I have repeatedly noticed in my teaching and research work: the financial industry in Switzerland needs practice-oriented figures, data, and facts – real benchmarks that help banks and asset managers in their day-to-day business.

Due to the trend toward academicization at our universities of applied sciences, this type of applied research has become rare. This is where we step in and hope to make a small but useful contribution to the Swiss financial industry.

Your activities are based on scientific surveys. How do you obtain them?

Swiss private banking is not exactly known for outstanding transparency – and that is, to some extent, a good thing. For our «flagship study» we rely exclusively on publicly available data from annual reports and entries in the commercial register. We want no room for interpretation and no assessments, but a sober overview of the market.

«Swiss banks love benchmarks and rankings»

Consolidating this data is time-consuming, but scientifically no great magic – I often tell my students, with a calculator, you can easily recalculate all the results. This objective, quantitative approach is probably one of the reasons why our studies are so well-received in the industry.

What added value do your studies provide for the industry?

Swiss banks love benchmarks and rankings. Many institutions use our figures and their fact sheet in the study to compare themselves with peers, identify weaknesses, and close gaps – almost like the old sports car card game, where you competed against each other using performance data.

I have already had the opportunity to present our results to the board of directors several times. Other market participants at home and abroad – including many private banking clients – value our studies as fact-based and therefore absolutely sound analyses.

You will present the results of the next study in early November 2025 at an event in Zurich. Who is your target audience – who can attend?

Our WealthSummit has proven itself as a forum for board members and C-level executives – which is why it bears this name. We want to keep the format «small and select» and focus on invited guests from Swiss private banking.

The idea is to create a space beyond media hype or commercialism, where people can exchange views openly on the truly important issues.

«Numerous institutions from our last study have since disappeared»

Our coveted awards also give these events a touch of glamour – and the banks use these accolades in their marketing.

How does the Swiss private banking landscape look as of mid-2025?

We are in the middle of our data evaluation, but initial trends are emerging: assets under management are very high thanks to booming markets, but net new money inflows are modest, and the cost base remains challenging.

The landscape continues to be characterized by smaller, specialized boutiques – some of them are very successful, others less so. At the same time, consolidation is continuing: numerous institutions from our last study have since disappeared.

And despite digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI), one thing is clear: clients still value the bank and the client advisors they trust. So the industry will certainly not get boring.

The Swiss financial center is dominated by the mega bank UBS and the controversy over whether regulation is moderate or excessive – depending on one’s point of view. Switzerland is also in tough competition with other financial centers such as Singapore, Dubai, and, more recently Milan. How do you assess the prospects of the Swiss financial center?

The Swiss financial center still has strong assets up its sleeve: the franc as one of the safest currencies in the world, high service quality, as well as multilingual and trustworthy employees.

«The Swiss financial center must not rest on its laurels»

What worries me are the rather weak net new money inflows in recent years, which come mainly from old Europe – a region without much wealth dynamism. Here, Swiss banks need to highlight their value proposition for assets booked in Switzerland more clearly.

Consolidation is likely to continue on a similar scale: fewer institutions, more mergers, but no dramatic wave of bank failures. In short, our financial center remains strong – but must not rest on its laurels.

Could you elaborate a bit more on the optimization potential?

Seventeen years after the financial crisis, the industry is highly regulated – and therefore bears a heavy cost burden. At many institutions, I observe a rather inward focus at board or executive management level: dealing with new FINMA circulars or with shortcomings from the last banking law revision, instead of looking more consistently toward growth.

Another perennial issue is the IT landscape: many institutions struggle with a kind of clubfoot that slows down innovation. There is hardly a strategy or growth discussion that does not quickly end up at the constraints of IT.

«I would like to see more courage in future fields such as digitalization, AI, and cloud usage»

More agility and flexibility are urgently needed – even if I know that it is easier said than done from the outside.

In which business areas does the Swiss financial center need to take action?

I would like to see more courage in future fields such as digitalization, AI, and cloud usage. There is noticeable movement in the area of digital assets and crypto – here, Switzerland can further expand its role as a serious and regulated location.

How far along are Swiss banks with their offerings in the crypto sector?

Since the US elections, I have observed a certain normalization of crypto as an asset class. For more and more wealth management banks, it has become important to have such an offering. Even institutions that were previously rather reserved on the subject are probably working on solutions behind the scenes.

Client demand, especially in the (U)HNWI segment, is strong. Crypto is here to stay – the exciting question for Swiss banks is only in what form.

Back to your website: its navigation also includes two sections on Asia and the United Arab Emirates. What is behind them?

There is also noticeable interest in research and corresponding forums in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and, incidentally, also in Italy. I don’t want to make any promises, but I can imagine that our formats would be well-received there.

Your private banking study will be published in November at the event in Zurich, followed by a similar setting in March 2026 for independent asset managers – also in Zurich. Why is this professional group also in your focus?

This industry has so far been little researched in terms of figures and facts – yet it plays a central role in our financial center.

«That is why we are launching a large-scale study on independent asset managers»

Together with Aquila, Switzerland's largest platform for independent asset managers, we are launching a large-scale study for and about this peer group.

We will present the results at an exclusive event, as a forum for the now well over 1,000 licensed asset managers in Switzerland. They are a cornerstone of our financial industry and have always shaped Switzerland.

Chris Künzle is an entrepreneur, lecturer, and author. With the WealthSummits, he organizes and leads exclusive conferences that have established themselves as a reference point for boards of directors and top management in the industry. Previously, he held senior positions in the financial industry in Switzerland and abroad for many years. He earned a doctorate in law at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), completed a degree in business administration, and is a CFA charterholder.

This year’s WealthSummit will take place on November 6 at the Zunfthaus zur Meisen in Zurich – exclusively for invited guests and with finews.ch as media partner. The new Swiss Wealth Management Study will be published the following day. The conference and study are presented by Olympic Banking System (ERI) and supported by renowned sponsors such as Deloitte, Henley & Partners, Invesco, Schellenberg Wittmer, Stellar Executive Search as well as CFRA Research, Finfox, iFinity, and unblu.