Mirabaud: How a 200-Year-Old, Family-Owned Swiss Bank Has Adapted to Modern Wealth Management

Mirabaud Bank, a Swiss bank with international reach, is one of the longest-running financial firms.

It has been operating since 1819 with roughly 32 billion Swiss francs (approximately $35.6 billion) in assets under management. Somewhat of an anomaly in modern international finance, it has remained private and family-owned throughout its 200-plus years and throughout its generational shifts. 

Nicolas Mirabaud — who became managing partner in 2019 and is a seventh-generation descendent of the founding family — says the bank has adapted to a wealth management environment that’s evolving rapidly. But he thinks there’s an advantage in drawing on a foundation of centuries of banking experience. 

“History is important because history tells you that if you believe in what you do, you need to take the time to do it,” Mirabaud said in a recent interview.

The bank, which is historically active in wealth management, has also developed a strong asset management business and also offers corporate advisory services in addition to building on its foundation in managing private wealth. It has also expanded its international presence, particularly in the Middle East, where it opened offices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2007 and Abu Dhabi, UAE, in 2019.

Managing Personal and Professional Wealth

A natural trend driving the bank’s strategy is the increasing intersection of private and corporate wealth management. Whereas its wealth management conversations with individual clients used to be almost entirely focused on an investment portfolio, they often include discussions of issues such as selling or passing on a company, or funding a startup. This shift has led to the expansion of the bank’s corporate advisory services division. 

“Before, it was really separated — you had a bank for your company, you had a bank for your private wealth,” explained Mirabaud. “Now you use the private wealth to finance some businesses [or] give money to your children for their startup. So if we were to only focus on the [investment] portfolio, we would address only 30% of the conversation.” This is a very natural trend for the family-owned Mirabaud Bank.

Mirabaud Bank’s International Outlook

Over the course of its long history, Mirabaud has gradually extended its footprint beyond Switzerland, but its expansion efforts have picked up in the last few decades. This growth mirrors the banking industry’s rapid globalization in the 21st century, as more firms look to offer wealth and asset management services to a global clientele.

“Some years ago, the competition that we had were a few banks around us,” said Mirabaud. “And then it moved to the other banks in the country, and then it moved to the other banks in Europe, and then worldwide.” 

The bank now operates in over a dozen locations across the globe, including major cities such as London, Paris, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, Luxembourg, and Sao Paulo. 

It has strategically enhanced its Middle East operations in recent years, notably with the 2019 establishment of a subsidiary in Abu Dhabi, aiming to provide comprehensive wealth management services within the United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s fastest-growing hubs of private wealth. Mirabaud has been present in the Middle East since 2007, becoming the first Swiss bank to obtain a Category 1 license in 2010.

Despite the bank’s growing international presence, Nicolas Mirabaud still returns to the strength of its position as one of the oldest and most prominent names in Swiss finance.

“We always speak about stability of the government, of the currency, of the economy in Switzerland, and sometimes it seems a little bit cliche, but at the end of the day, it’s not [just] a cliche,” he said.