Yves Mirabaud Shares Mirabaud’s Business Philosophy
As the senior managing partner and chairman of the board of Mirabaud, Yves Mirabaud manages a Swiss private equity firm. He joined this company in 1996 after working in the banking industry in Switzerland and the United States. He’s also the president of the Geneva Financial Centre Foundation and is on the board of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services.
He recently shared Mirabaud’s business philosophy. He said his company always put the interests of its clients over revenue. Mirabaud had one of its best years in its 200-year history. The return on equity that year was 15%. However, revenue fell by 8%. He attributes this to the U.S. dollar’s weakness among other factors. His company secured the accounts of actively managed portfolios before COVID-19 caused the stock market to have major turbulence.
As a result of this securing effort, 60% of Mirabaud’s clients were passively invested during the drop in the stock market and subsequent recovery. This was great for clients, Yves Mirabaud said, but not so much for his company’s revenue. He said some people may view his company as old-fashioned and conservative, but its philosophy meant clients had reduced volatility and could sleep better at night. Almost every client had strong performance in the portfolio.
A few of Mirabaud’s key clients only use it to execute trades. They had a lot of leverage in their portfolios, and his company called some margin when the stock market was volatile. These clients lost money due to their choices, which hit the revenue of Mirabaud.
The second half of 2020 was the opposite of the first half. Money came into its asset management business, but the growth of private banking declined. His company was cautious about spending and saved money in areas like sponsorships, entertainment and travel. Click here to learn more.
Additional Reference: https://www.handelszeitung.ch/management/yves-mirabaud
