For decades, the Quilvest bank maintained a quiet yet high-profile address at Stockerhof. But now, the bank is on the move — relocating to Füsslistrasse, as it recently announced on LinkedIn. It’s a modest shift on the map — the two addresses are barely five minutes apart.

Nevertheless, the move invites a broader question: where exactly is Quilvest heading strategically and institutionally?

From Quilmes Beer to Quilvest Bank

The relocation comes at a time of significant transformation for the bank. Founded in the 1930s as the family office of the influential Bemberg dynasty — one of the most prominent business families in Latin America, founders of the Argentinian Quilmes brewery — Quilvest has long straddled the line between legacy and discretion.

With holdings in beer, energy, and finance, the Bembergs converted their wealth management arm into a full-fledged private bank, eventually operating across Luxembourg, Paris, and Zurich.

A Former 30 Billion Empire

In the late 2010s, Quilvest Wealth Management — the now dissolved parent company of the Swiss bank — oversaw 30 billion francs in assets with more than 300 employees globally. The Swiss bank alone held over 7 billion francs in client money.

That was five years ago.

From Quilvest Wealth Management to Bemberg Capital

Since then, the group has unwound its international ambitions. In 2021, Quilvest Wealth Management sold its Luxembourg and Paris operations (known as CBP Quilvest) to Intesa Sanpaolo's Fideuram Bank Luxembourg.

The remaining financial activities were folded into the family's Holding, Bemberg Capital. A second ingredient remains Quilvest Capital Partners in Luxembourg, a global investment manager focused on the middle market, managing about 7 billion dollars.

«Off-Boarding of Non-Strategic Clients»

In an email exchange with finews.com, Quilvest (Switzerland)'s CEO Matthias Jenzer positioned the change as a conscious reorganization: «In late 2019, we embarked on a review of our business which led to a targeted reorganisation and streamlining initiatives,» he wrote.

«While the overall process resulted in the off-boarding of non-strategic clients, we are fully satisfied with our repositioned strategy and new operating model, which we believe positions us particularly well for long-term growth.»

But a closer look at the numbers paints a more complex picture:

In 2024, Quilvest (Switzerland) posted a consolidated profit (after taxes and extraordinary income) of 1 million francs, down from 3.5 million francs in 2023. Those are modest numbers for a bank with a 220 million balance sheet (at the end of 2024), prompting the question whether the bank even covers its cost of capital.

Operating income fell from 30.2 million to 28.9 million francs (by 4.5 percent), while expenses climbed by nearly 9 percent (from 23.9 to 26.0 million francs), driven by higher personnel costs and rising service fees.

Negative Net New Money

The bank’s assets under management ticked up slightly to 5.9 billion francs — but that remains well below the levels seen in earlier years. The growth was driven by favorable market conditions, not by net new money.

Meanwhile, the cost side remains stubbornly high. Despite a shrunken asset base, the bank employed nearly 90 full-time equivalents in 2024 — a level unchanged from five years earlier. The bank justifies this with its «repositioned model» and «strengthened investment and front-office teams,» but it raises questions of efficiency: why does a sub-6-billion-bank, catering to a limited number of super-rich families, require this scale of infrastructure?

Captive Asset Pool

Around Zurich’s financial district, it is widely speculated that a significant portion of Quilvest’s AuM comes from the Bemberg family itself or its affiliated structures. If true, that would mean the bank is largely managing related-party money. Effectively, an institutionalized multi-family office with a banking license. The bank declined to comment on the share of the assets associated to the owner family.

It also prompts an interesting question: Why maintain a full-scale bank — with 90 employees, multiple systems, and rising costs — for a largely captive asset pool? In a cost-sensitive regulatory environment, and in a city filled with agile, high-margin family office boutiques, the model looks increasingly anachronistic.

Retreating from the Competitive Front?

Meanwhile, independent wealth managers and multi-family offices serving the same ultra-high-net-worth clientele Quilvest claims to focus on have managed to grow — and profitably so. Firms like Marcuard Family Office or Novum Capital Partners (recently covered by finews.com) have posted consistent inflows, even amid geopolitical volatility and client retrenchment.

By contrast, Quilvest appears to be retreating from that competitive front, not advancing. Jenzer’s message may suggest strategic conviction, but the numbers reveal a house that still has to regain its competitive edge.

Smaller, Quieter

And so the move from Stockerhof to Füsslistrasse takes on more than geographic meaning. It represents the withdrawal of a once-global franchise into something smaller and quieter. A generational dynasty remains in control. 

Yet as a private bank, Quilvest raises questions: How much of the business is third-party client-driven? What is the actual cost of capital? Where will future growth come from? Whatever the strategy, it has yet to translate into measurable growth.