The asset manager manages the assets of his clients and advises them on all their financial needs. The asset manager is subject to the rules of the Federal act on Financial Services (FinSA) and the Federal Act On Financial Institutions (FinIA) and must obtain a licence from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA. To receive this licence, the asset manager must fulfill several conditions. In particular, he is required to:

• be legally classified as either a sole proprietorship, a commercial enterprise or a cooperative and entered as such in the commercial register;
• be suitably organised with adequate risk management and internal controls;
• have sufficient equity capital or securities;
• describe their business activity including precise details of their operations and geographic layout in the relevant documents;
• provide proof of affiliation to an SO, thus confirming they are supervised by a supervisory organisation.

Wealth management is carried out in a professional manner, at the option and according to the manager’s convictions, covering a very wide range of products and services.

The asset manager acts on behalf of and in the name of the client. The client’s assets are kept in his name in an account held with a custodian bank of his choice.

Currently there are more than 1,500 asset managers in Switzerland. This sector is still expanding, with market shares continuing to grow despite the trend towards overregulation.