Switzerland

Landlocked in Central Europe but with legislative freedom, Switzerland is the perfect combination of security, independence and connectivity.

Why Switzerland?

As a signatory to The Hague Convention, Switzerland ratified the Law applicable to Trusts and their Recognition in 2007, allowing clients who wish to appoint Swiss trustees the freedom to choose the governing law of their trust from any relevant trust jurisdiction.

In appointing a Swiss Trustee, clients gain access to the reassuring quality and high standards applied by Swiss regulation and infrastructure, its accessibility via its strong global travel links and the convenience of overlapping time zones with the Americas and Far East.

Switzerland represents the best of excellence, stability, and innovation – built on 250-years of reputation as a wealth industry leader.

Our journey in Switzerland

After close to thirty years in business in Guernsey, we opened our first Swiss office in 2008, recognising the benefits to our multi-jurisdictional clients of establishing an on-the-ground presence in the region.

Our Switzerland Managing Director, Paul Tucknott, relocated from our Guernsey office, ensuring our Swiss offering would align with our core values and deliver the same high level of client service.

The successful establishment of our office in Geneva saw us expand in 2012, opening a second Swiss office in Zurich, which is now headed up by two highly experienced Client Directors, Stefan Aegerter and Tim Parkinson, who each had decades of experience in the Swiss financial service sector.

Our Swiss team has since grown too close to forty professionals with diverse backgrounds.

Our commitment to Switzerland

As we approach the celebration of 20 years of Saffery Trust in Switzerland, our commitment to the community and environment is as strong as ever.

From participating in the annual Marche de l’Espoir (Walk of Hope), to quarterly office fundraisers for local causes and a Christmas gift collection for disadvantaged children, our Swiss teams take every opportunity they can to support charitable organisations.

Dedicated to our status as a responsible business, our Corporate Social Responsibility and Green teams in Switzerland – led by staff volunteers – are always looking for ways to improve our working practices to reduce our impact on the environment. We are proud that our Geneva office has been climate neutral since 2020.

We also regularly launch initiatives for our staff to help educate them on environmental issues and share advice on how to minimise their impact on the environment, including Waste-free Wednesday and Meatless Monday challenges.

Client service

We understand being a specialist in trusts, succession, and family office services, requires a wide knowledge base. With 16 languages spoken by our Swiss team members, diversity is at the forefront of our entrepreneurial, multi-cultural team.

An advantage of our multi-lingual team is the ability to offer clients and intermediaries the option to communicate in their preferred language. It also enables our people to bridge gaps in language barriers, and navigate often complex legal, financial, regulatory, and cultural intricacies.

As well as working closely with each other, our Geneva and Zurich teams also collaborate highly effectively with our other offices in Guernsey, the Cayman Islands and the United Arab Emirates, giving our clients access to our international team of professionals, while maintaining a central point of contact in Switzerland.

Our Swiss service offering

Our private client base spans the globe; their geographical diversity is rivalled only by the great variety of assets we administer for them. They benefit from our combined experience and qualifications across a broad spectrum, including private banking, legal, finance and marketing.

Being part of the Saffery Trust group means that we have the resource to keep our finger firmly on the pulse of regulatory compliance, while our operational structure gives us independence to offer bespoke services.

This autonomy allows us to make quick decisions and maintain the freedom to build relationships across an extensive network, which includes working closely with qualified tax practitioners, both in-house and externally, to connect our clients with on-demand advice for personal and corporate tax matters.

As well as trustee services, we offer our clients advanced blockchain-based data security solutions, on-the-ground support to Swiss based family offices, and consolidated reporting via specialist platforms, aligning with our commitment to exploring technologies which can enhance our client journey.

We match our clients’ enthusiasm for exploring new avenues and accompany them and their families on their wealth creation and preservation journeys.

Services – Switzerland