Asset Management
EFG International Launches Financial Products Business
Zurich based Private Banking Group EFG International plans to launch a new business initiative, EFG Financial Products, focusing on structured investment products.
This will comprise a Swiss securities dealer (subject to regulatory approval) and a Guernsey issuing entity. It is expected that the business will be fully operational effective December 2007. A minority stake in the business is held by its employees.
This business will differ from existing activities relating to structured investment products in that it will involve issuing instruments in its own name, with a strong orientation towards listed products. These will be open to the market at large, not just to existing clients.
Initially, the new business will provide structured product solutions to the Swiss market, encompassing private and institutional clients. The venture currently has over 40 employees. It is currently managed by Lukas Ruflin, Jan Schoch, Michael Hartweg and Sandro Dorigo.
Mr Ruflin, currently working for EFG Private Bank, London and member of EFG International’s Executive Committee, joined the company in early 2004 from Lehman Brothers.
Mr Schoch will be responsible for distribution and financial engineering. He was formerly head of Equity, Commodity and Hybrid Derivative Sales Switzerland at Lehman Brothers, where he was responsible for establishing its Swiss structured products business. Prior to Lehman Brothers, he spent five years at Goldman Sachs, helping to drive the establishment of its Swiss structured products business.
Michael Hartweg will be responsible for structuring and trading. He was formerly head of Trading Securitised Structured Products for Europe at Goldman Sachs.
Mr Dorigo will be responsible for operations and the distribution platform. He formerly built up and led the Securitized Structured Products platform at Lehman Brothers, Switzerland. Prior to this, he worked for Julius Baer where helped to build up its structured products platform, and was responsible for structured products within discretionary mandates.
