Switzerland has long been the world's private banking capital. Now one of its oldest institutions is making the case that digital assets belong in the same portfolio as traditional wealth. Joining me is Andreas Fröhlicher, CEO and Head of Middle East at Maerki Baumann. Andreas, welcome to the show.
Thank you very much. It is a pleasure to be here.
Maerki Baumann was one of the first Swiss private banks to obtain a digital asset licence. What was the thinking behind moving that early?
We saw what was happening with our clients. They were asking about Bitcoin, about digital assets, about how to hold them safely within a regulated structure. And the honest answer at the time from most private banks was — we cannot help you with that. That was not good enough for us. Our philosophy has always been to follow where our clients are going, not to tell them where they should go. So we made the decision early to invest in the infrastructure, obtain the licence, and build the capability so that when a client says they want exposure to digital assets, we can say yes — within our platform, under Swiss law, with the same protections they have for the rest of their portfolio.
What does that actually look like in practice for a client?
It looks like one relationship. One portfolio. One statement that shows you your Swiss equities, your alternative investments, your real estate exposure, and your Bitcoin or Ethereum or tokenised asset position — all in the same place, managed by the same adviser. Most clients do not want to manage a separate crypto wallet. They do not want to worry about private keys. They want the same experience they have always had with their private bank, extended to this new asset class. That is what we provide.
The Middle East is a significant focus for you. What are you seeing from clients in this region specifically?
The Middle East is one of the most interesting markets we operate in. The clients here are sophisticated, internationally minded, and increasingly allocating to digital assets — not speculatively, but as a genuine part of a diversified wealth strategy. What they are asking for is exactly what we offer: a regulated institution with a genuine digital asset capability, Swiss jurisdiction, and a relationship-based service model. The combination of Swiss private banking tradition and digital asset sophistication is a very specific proposition — and it resonates strongly here.
How do you think about the risk side of digital assets within a private banking context?
Risk management is at the core of everything we do. Digital assets are volatile — clients understand that. What they need from us is the ability to size that exposure appropriately within their overall portfolio, to custody their assets securely, and to have clear legal protections if something goes wrong. On the custody side, we work with regulated custodians operating under Swiss banking law. On the portfolio side, we treat digital assets like any other alternative investment — with appropriate due diligence, position sizing, and ongoing monitoring. The risk is real but it is manageable within a proper private banking framework.
What comes next for Maerki Baumann in this space?
Tokenisation is where a lot of our focus is going. The ability to tokenise traditional assets — real estate, private equity, art — and hold them within the same digital asset infrastructure that we have built for crypto is a very significant opportunity. It means the same client who holds Bitcoin with us can also hold a tokenised position in a Swiss real estate fund through the same platform. That convergence of traditional private banking assets and digital asset infrastructure is where the most interesting work is happening right now.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Thank you. It has been a pleasure.
