Interviews

Interview with Gunnar Grape, Reporting Specialist

"Problems arise especially where a solution is unable to reproduce the full range of asset classes"

Gunnar Grape is the managing director of iComps GmbH, which offers various services to support wealth managers in the administration of their client portfolios and providing clients’ investment reports. We discussed with him the current state of client reporting and what a good investment report from a wealth manager should look like... more

Interview with Financial Author Francis Groves

"A lot of attention given to ETFs is overly simplistic or technical"

Francis Groves is the author of the recently published book Exchange Traded Funds: A Concise Guide to ETFs. In this interview the ETF expert explains how to build a sensible portfolio from ETFs, the typical mistakes private investors make with ETFs, what they can do and simple steps to contain the biggest risks. ... more

Interview with Dr. Christian Gast, Head of iShares Switzerland

"ETFs don't pay kickbacks"

Dr. Christian Gast is the head of iShares Switzerland. We have talked with him about the future of ETFs, the adequacy of index investing for private banking clients and the challenges of the kickback-based fee system that most active funds still use to get access to... more

Interview with Karl M. Schmidt, CEO qurin bank

"I am the boss of the bank least loved by other bank"

Karl Matthäus Schmidt is the CEO of the first fee-only private bank in Germany which offers clients wealth advice without conflict of interest. We talked with him about the acceptance of this new advisory model among clients and what has to be done to make the wealth management market more transparent... more

Interview With Josh Brown, Finance Blogger And Wall Street Critic

"It's Foolish To Invest In A Currency"

Investing in currencies is all the rage in wealth management and private banking. Inspired by the Euro crisis many private investors in the EU have started investing in currency products. But does currency investing make any sense? We talked about this to Josh Brown... more

Interview with Gerd Kommer, Author of the Buy-and-Hold-Bible

"Returns Come From Taking Risks, Not From Following Gurus"

Gerd Kommer is the author of various best-selling investment guides. He is a strong advocate of a passive, indexing-based investment strategy. In this interview, he talks about what a good wealth manager should do, and why the wealth management and private banking industry must shrink to better... more

Interview with Alexandre Arnbäck, Passive Management SA

"It's difficult, costly and risky to try to beat the markets"

Alexandre Arnbäck is the co-founder of Passive Management SA and a former private banker with Lombard Odier. He is convinced that only a passive investment approach can give optimal performance with the lowest possible risk to wealth management and private banking clients... more

Daniel Fischer on UBS Global Property Fund

"It's Not Possible at the Moment to Estimate the Damage"

Dr. Daniel Fischer, senior partner of the Zurich law firm "Fischer & Partner" has played a central role in the aftermath of a number of the latest financial scandals. We have interviewed Dr. Fischer about the latest developments with regard to the UBS Global Property Fund.... more

Interview with Raoul Hinder, CEO & Co-Founder of Portfolio Consulting AG

"It's All About Transparency"

All asset managers tell you that they are good. But are they? How can you evaluate their claims? Raoul Hinder is the co-founder and CEO of Portfolio Consulting AG. In this interview he explains how objective portfolio controlling works, what its benefits are and where the wealth management industry is headed.... more

Interview: Alan Miller on the Fund Industry

"The More You Pay for It, the Worse the Product Is"

Alan Miller is Senior Partner and Fund Manager at Spencer-Churchill Miller Private, a boutique wealth management organisation. Recently he has made various critical comments about the high fees and the often low performance of the mutual fund industry.... more

Interview with Kripa Sethuraman, Family Office Exchange

“We See a Shift in Strategy”

Kripa Sethuraman is Managing Partner of Family Office Exchange, London. Kripa is an expert on all matters related to family offices. In this interview she talks about the challenges in setting up and running a family office especially during times of financial distress.... more

Interview: Dr. Daniel Fischer, Leading Attorney of Madoff Victims

"Banks Have Not Learned Yet To Speak About Their Problems"

Dr. Daniel Fischer plays a central role in the aftermath of a number of the latest financial scandals. He filed a successful class action suit – the first of its kind in Switzerland – on behalf of clients financially hit by the collapse of Lehman Brothers and is also represents victims of Madoff's ponzi scheme... more

Interview with Paul Amery, IndexUniverse.eu

"Wealth Management Still Dominated By Commission-Driven Funds"

Paul Amery is the managing editor of IndexUniverse.eu. In this exclusive interview for MyPrivatebanking.com Paul talks about the specific aspects of ETF and index investments from the point of view of indiviudal, private investors.... more

Exclusive Interview: Hedge Fund Expert Richard Bookstaber

"Don't Trust The Numbers Coming Out Of Any Hedge Fund"

Richard Bookstaber, renown risk management and hedge fund expert, is the author of the book “A Demon of Our Own Design”. In the following exclusive interview with MyPrivateBanking.com Richard explains his views about risk and hedge funds with a special emphasis on the private investor.... more