A Swiss investment manager has secured its first West Coast foothold with a new office in Century City.

Vontobel Swiss Financial Advisers, a branch of the legacy Zurich-based asset manager Vontobel Holdings, opened the doors to its 10100 Santa Monica Blvd. office on June 3. The firm allows investors to hold global equities and bonds, foreign currencies, and precious metals in Switzerland. 

“We are able to provide U.S. clients a full-fledged investment portfolio in currencies completely diversified from the U.S. dollar,” said Billy Obregon, Vontobel’s head of private clients for the Americas and chief executive of Vontobel SFA. “That really provides value from a long-term perspective.”

Vontobel SFA started servicing U.S. investors in 2010, opening a now-defunct Dallas location in 2013 to target Texas millionaires. It later set up shop in New York City and Miami before stretching west. 

A tangible commitment to Los Angeles, which Vontobel SFA sees as a gateway into expansive tech and real estate wealth, was a fitting next step, Obregon said. The firm, which counts 110 employees across its U.S. operations, has brought on three L.A.-based team members. Two local staff will focus on business development – scouring for potential clients and partners – and a third will manage client relationships on-the-ground.

“It’s very easy to say we’re committed to a market (and that) we want to manage your money, but everybody sits in Switzerland,” Obregon said. “The reason we opened the L.A. office is because we see a tremendous demand to connect the U.S. to Switzerland, but you have to be in the local markets … The idea is to be closer to where the clients are.”

Facing market volatility

The firm manages $15 billion in U.S. client money, a third of which comes from investors on the country’s West Coast, Obregon said. Its push into the U.S. comes as market volatility and a weakening U.S. dollar drive up demand for its portfolio diversification services, he said. 

“One of the main drivers today is the current risk that investors see,” Obregon said. “There’s also the fact of concentrated geopolitical risk.”

The average Vontobel SFA client is an ultra-high-net-worth investor entrusting at least $2 million to the firm, which tends to take on between 10 and 20% of a clients’ investable assets. Today, most U.S. clients are interested in owning the Swiss franc, as well as shares of Norwegian krone fixed-income funds and publicly traded Swiss companies, Obregon said.

Investors looking to shield assets from U.S. tax reporting are not a fit for Vontobel SFA, Obregon said. The firm complies with all stateside reporting requirements under the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission so as not to create “more liability than benefit,” he said.  

“We’re not looking for the client that just wants to flee the U.S. and wants to just go away,” Obregon said. “We’re looking for clients (who are) looking at investing in Switzerland from a purely portfolio construction and strategic asset allocation perspective.”