‘Regulation must be proportionate, predictable, stable and pragmatic’
Series CEO spotlight, Episode 20:
In an interview with Swissinfo, Christel Rendu de Lint, co-CEO of Vontobel says human judgment, and oversight will remain essential in the AI era.
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‘Regulation must be proportionate, predictable, stable and pragmatic’
Christel Rendu de Lint took the helm of Swiss investment firm Vontobel in January 2024, forming the only co-CEO partnership in Swiss finance.
She speaks to Swissinfo as tensions mount between the Swiss government and UBS over tougher capital requirements for the country’s largest bank.
During an exclusive interview at Vontobel’s Zurich headquarters (due to relocate to Zug in 2030), Rendu de Lint underlines the challenges that come with a strong Swiss franc and growing geopolitical uncertainty.
Swissinfo: How would you summarise Vontobel’s main current challenges and opportunities?
Christel Rendu de Lint: The macroeconomic landscape has changed fundamentally over the past years Quantitative easing – central-bank measures to lower interest rates and stimulate economic activity – ended in 2022 as inflation returned and rates rose. We have moved from a prolonged period of relative stability into normal monetary-policy cycles, bringing greater market volatility without the automatic expectation of Federal Reserve support.
Geopolitical complexity adds further challenges, yet it plays to our strengths. Clients both private and institutional, seek stability and genuine investment expertise. Unlike banks focused on expanding lending, our core business is investment management.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is both a challenge and a major opportunity. We must all learn to use it effectively, but I am convinced it will raise industry standards and enhance human capabilities. As conventional analysis becomes faster and more widely available, genuine investment expertise and human judgment will become even more important. The winning model is not humans versus machines, but skilled professionals using the best tools to generate better insights and make better decisions.
Swissinfo: To avoid another banking crisis and reassure investors, Switzerland has tightened banking regulations. UBS Chair Colm Kelleher acknowledged the bank could reconsider its Swiss base if the regulatory tightening were to go too far. Is Switzerland becoming over-regulated at the expense of its competitiveness?
C.R.D.L.: Regulation is essential – without it, the consequences would be disastrous – but it must be proportionate, predictable, stable and pragmatic. AI can also help banks meet regulatory demands more efficiently, for instance by streamlining know-your-customer processes.
Swissinfo: Vontobel operates in 28 locations across 14 countries. Which markets offer the greatest opportunities in the future?
C.R.D.L.: For our private clients’ business, our four core growth markets are Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the United States. This reflects our model: we are not primarily a lending bank and our strength lies in investment expertise and service quality. Asia is not a core growth market for this business as Asian clients are also looking for leverage.
For institutional clients, the picture is broader. We also serve clients in Asia and the Middle East because they seek our investment expertise independently of where they hold their assets or arrange financing.
Swissinfo: What makes you different from your competition such as UBS or Citi?
C.R.D.L.: Until 2019, we had three divisions: wealth management, asset management and investment banking. We exited from the investment banking business in order to focus on the “buy side”*of our offer and reorganised as an investment firm with its investment teams at the center serving both private and institutional clients.
All investments — private and institutional — are now managed through a single “investment factory.” The same team that runs a large sovereign-wealth mandate may also manage discretionary portfolios for private clients. This integrated model gives every client access to the same expertise and makes our performance easier to benchmark internationally.
Swissinfo: More precisely, what concrete advantages does this single “investment factory” bring?
C.R.D.L.: Institutional clients – endowments, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds – demand full transparency and disciplined processes. That external scrutiny serves as a mark of quality and benefits private clients too. We also serve wholesale clients – such as large banks that select our products for their own private clients – who likewise benefit from the performance of our investment factory and whom we can serve better having a solid understanding ourselves of private clients’ needs.
This mix of private, institutional and wholesale business also provides diversification and greater stability for Vontobel.
Swissinfo: How do business conditions in Switzerland compare with those in competing financial centres, and which countries are the main rivals?
C.R.D.L.: The Swiss franc is both a strength and a challenge. It is a genuine safe-haven currency that has tended to appreciate and preserve value. Yet its strength creates difficulties for exporters and, by extension, for Swiss investment managers serving international clients – though we have learned to manage this. Switzerland’s capacity for innovation remains exceptional, but we cannot rest on our laurels.
In general, our principal competitors are the major centres where talent and clients concentrate: the United States, the United Kingdom and, within the EU, France, Germany and Italy. Specifically in services for private clients, Singapore and Hong Kong have also become strong rivals as booking centres.
Swissinfo: How have the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East affected your business and the demand for sustainable investing?
C.R.D.L.: One of the main shifts since 2022 has been a reassessment of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and sustainable investing. That year the strongest performers included commodities, energy and later defence – sectors many sustainable products avoided. The reassessment was partly healthy given earlier greenwashing issues in the industry, yet it also affected teams that had approached sustainability rigorously.
Interest in sustainable investing has since recovered. As active investment managers, we must consider material sustainability factors as part of our fiduciary duty. If an investment strategy also aims to achieve a specific environmental or social impact, we explain this clearly so clients can decide whether it matches their objectives.
Swissinfo: How do you retain the next generation of clients?
C.R.D.L.: We build relationships with clients’ children well before wealth is transferred, working with young, locally based relationship managers who understand the next generation’s expectations. Younger clients will demand greater transparency and the ability to compare performance – areas in which we are well placed. More generally, every transfer of wealth is a decisive moment. Today, transfers often benefit women who inherit from their husbands because of their longer life expectancy.
More generally, success rests on three pillars: relationship managers who understand clients’ broader circumstances and objectives, outstanding investment professionals, and the ability to translate needs into effective solutions. These apply equally to private and institutional clients.
Swissinfo: In foreign markets, do you specifically target the Swiss abroad or clients with Swiss roots?
C.R.D.L.: Nationality is not a selection criterion; we seek the best people and serve clients according to their needs in the markets we operate in. Our Swiss identity remains deeply embedded in our culture and values.
Swissinfo: Although Vontobel is listed on the Swiss stock exchange, the founding family retains majority voting control through a foundation. How does this structure influence strategy?
C.R.D.L.: It gives us the best of both worlds. The listing ensures transparency and accountability, while stable majority ownership shields us from excessive short-term pressure and provides continuity and a genuinely long-term perspective.
Swissinfo: What are the advantages of the co-CEO structure, and how do you handle disagreements?
C.R.D.L.: In investment management, what matters is being right, not who is right. My co-CEO, Georg Schubiger, and I lead together with the wider management team. In a complex world, no individual has all the answers; a co-CEO model brings complementary expertise and cognitive diversity. We share the same vision and values while offering different strengths. Disagreements are rarer than people expect because we rarely hold equally strong convictions on every issue.
*The “buy-side” refers to investors who invest money on behalf of clients. By contrast, the “sell-side” refers to banks and brokers that help companies raise capital and provide securities and investment products to investors.
Edited by Virginie Mangin/ds
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