October 31, 2023

Mr Froidevaux, you've been a Lecturer at ISFB since 2017, where you teach in the field of finance. Can you tell us about your experience as a lecturer?

Courses at ISFB maintain a strong link between theory and practice, with an audience of professionals providing a rich sharing of anecdotes. With over 30 years' experience in banking and financial markets, I can offer real-life situations and provide a historical perspective from a financial or commercial angle, or from the perspective of an asset manager or client manager.

What do you see as the major challenges for skills development in your profession?

Today, there is an extreme asymmetry (an oxymoron?) between the multiplication of regulatory requirements designed to protect the individual (the investor in this case) and technological developments such as open AI or blockchain (which give the same investor unparalleled investment tools and freedom).

What's more, the traditional approaches of risk-return and other matches between the characteristics of financial instruments and investors are now being supplemented by a growing number of additional criteria - including ESG - which will add further complexity and mismatch risk. The institutions and individuals capable of extracting the original essence of a customer-oriented financial service will be the future leaders of the sector.

Distance learning tools provide a real alternative for acquiring and maintaining technical skills for as many people as possible. Just as essential, however, is the ability to think and ask the right questions, which can always be stimulated by face-to-face teaching.

The ISFB is a not-for-profit professional association representing the majority of banks in French-speaking Switzerland. How does your involvement in this association make sense for you on a day-to-day basis?

It is in the interests of banking employers to give massive support to concrete continuing education initiatives, so as to enable employees to build up a wide range of technical and human skills. In my view, they also have an individual responsibility to acquire the necessary skills via the most appropriate provider. Purely academic training needs to be complemented by more practical courses, which is what ISFB offers.

You hold a PhD in Economics and Social Sciences from the UNIGE. What was the focus of your work, and how do you ensure that the ecosystem benefits from your research?

I wrote a doctoral thesis in 2017 that looked at the virtues of independence in wealth management in Switzerland, with a focus on independent wealth managers (IFMs), followed by a book on the same subject in 2018.

One of the objectives of the research was to identify the criteria necessary for success in this field. These essential qualities have not changed in 5 years, and will probably remain the same in 10 years' time: the ability to solve concrete problems, high-quality personalized customer service, personal skills and exemplarity, etc. - in short, everything that makes for healthy navigation within the imperatives of the banking sector. - in short, everything that makes for healthy navigation within the imperatives of the banking sector.

In one of the press interviews that followed the book's presentation, I ventured to predict that the number of professional players would double in 10 years' time. Beyond the anecdote, it is indeed the evolution of exogenous factors - including legislation and technology - that will influence the state of the profession between now and 2028. I intend to continue to publish occasionally on the subject, whether in specialist media or in a more academic format.

Julien Froidevaux

Director

Head of Independent Managers Service

Piguet Galland & Cie SA