Allfunds Group has chosen Zurich for the establishment of its office in Switzerland, as a part of its long-term plans for expansion in the Swiss market through the incorporation of a wholly owned affiliate, Allfunds International Switzerland Ltd.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, FINMA, granted Allfunds International Switzerland Ltd the distributor license in late May of this year. The office in Zurich is led by Stig Harby, Allfunds’ Swiss Country Head, who joined Allfunds three years ago and has extensive experience in the financial industry globally and in Switzerland from his previous roles with UBS, Credit Suisse and State Street. Along with him, the office is supported by two senior members recently hired, Matthias Ritz who previously has been responsible for building the product platform of a leading Swiss fund platform, and Barbara Anger who previously led the fund provider management team at a leading Swiss universal bank.
Allfunds Group currently leads the fund distribution business in Europe with more than €100bn of assets under intermediation and has a very strong footprint across the continent. Allfunds has implemented abusiness model able to offer B2B fund solutions, bringing operational efficiency to the fund market, providing fund information and fund research support to leading financial institutions. According to Juan Alcaraz, Allfunds’ CEO: “Being close to our clients is part of our DNA and our commitment to the Swiss Market is now stronger thanks to the opening of our Swiss office. After completing the first milestone with the endorsement of the distribution license, we are now ready to provide our valuable institutional services to local financial institutions. For us, being local is key serving such an important market”.
He also added: “There is clearly room to expand our business here. So far, we have seen great acceptance for our services across Swiss institutional clients given our ability to meet their needs”.
According to Borja Largo, Director of Relationships with Fund Groups: “Fund Groups have specially welcomed our arrival given their need for a better platform solution that is more transparent, diligent and efficient. They believe we are the best partner to boost their business and are actively promoting our services”.