The big managers’ transfer market – interview with Romain Buob, Managing Director of Grant Alexander Switzerland, for an article by Sherif Mamdouh published in Market.
20.02.2026
On a Swiss financial center that has long since reached maturity, the quest for growth now relies on a fierce war for talent. Between boutique banks, established industry giants and the rising power of independent wealth managers (IWMs), the transfer of client portfolios has become a high-wire act where smooth talk collides with the cold reality of results.
The conclusion is unequivocal: for Swiss private banks, organic growth will not return to its former glory. In this context, recruiting relationship managers with a client portfolio under their arm is no longer an option but a central driver of new asset inflows. Yet this permanent “transfer market” is far from an exact science.
The art of uncovering “ghost” portfolios
Recruiting a “star” banker carries risks that institutions now seek to minimize through almost surgical analysis. How can one distinguish a virtuoso of client relationships from a smooth talker who negotiates a spectacular salary but whose assets never materialize?
For Philippe Turrian, Head of Wealth Management at Banque Syz, the exercise is all the more complex because commercial talent is a double-edged sword. “A good banker is a good ‘salesperson’, so naturally he knows how to ‘sell’ his business plan,” he notes. To limit disappointments, the bank now drills down “line by line to understand whether the banker truly knows his book and its specificities,” as well as his ability to estimate what portion of his clients will genuinely follow him. But beyond the numbers, networks prevail: “The best way is to know the banker personally […] it is by understanding how he built his book that we can best assess his chances of success.”
Philippe Turrian, Head of Wealth Management, Banque Syz.
This vigilance is shared by Frédéric Dommart, COO of Banque Bonhôte, who favors a fact-based approach. “We cross-check the information provided with objective data, such as target markets or mobility history,” he explains. In his view, experience helps lift the veil on appearances: “We can quickly distinguish what constitutes a truly ‘transferable’ portfolio from what mainly depends on the brand or the previous environment.”
Culture and incentives: from golden cage to entrepreneurial project
While assets under management are the primary attraction, it is often on the altar of corporate culture that marriages of convenience fall apart. Recruitment failures are not always due to an overestimation of the promised millions, but rather to institutional incompatibility or misaligned expectations.
“Cultural mismatch is an important factor,” analyzes Frédéric Dommart. “A relationship manager may have built a book over many years, but if he does not function well in our more agile, more transparent, less hierarchical environment than a large organization, integration becomes difficult.” Philippe Turrian adds that for senior profiles, failure is often linked to a biased reading of the client relationship: overestimating clients’ willingness to follow the banker, at the expense of their attachment to the institution, creates disillusionment. “It is human nature to give ourselves, as individuals, more importance than we give to the institution we serve,” he recalls. Misalignment regarding risk appetite or services offered can also accelerate a breakdown.
Frédéric Dommart, COO, Banque Bonhôte.
This tension is exacerbated by changes in compensation models. Romain Buob, CEO of Grant Alexander Switzerland, observes a structural shift: “While bonuses have for some time been linked to direct performance (Net New Money, account performance) in an increasing number of institutions, we are definitively leaving the era of discretionary bonuses. Today, whether in boutique banks, among independents or within large banking groups, the model is that of the salaried entrepreneur. Relationship managers want real meritocracy: they refuse to be ‘luxury employees’ whose variable compensation is reduced to offset regulatory fines imposed on a large group.”
The challenge of succession: winning over heirs
Beyond the banker, it is the client who is changing. The growth of mid-sized banks now depends on their ability to retain assets during generational transitions. Frédéric Dommart points out that healthy growth also stems from strengthening ties with “the new generations, whose expectations and modes of interaction are evolving rapidly.”
Romain Buob adds an important nuance to this transition: “The ‘self-made’ client of 30 years ago, who delegated everything with blind trust, is giving way to heirs educated at top universities. These new generations are ultra-connected and demanding: they ask for real estate, blockchain, AI and sustainable finance. To avoid losing these assets, the relationship manager must master these new dimensions, or risk being sidelined by heirs whose financial education is far more structured than that of their parents.”
Romain Buob, CEO, Grant Alexander Switzerland.