Asset management in transition: Why people remain central

Wealth management is a hallmark of Switzerland – and, since globalisation, a key pillar of the economy. Yet behind this constant, the investment business is undergoing fundamental change.

Valérie Lemaigre, Chief Economist at the Banque Cantonale de Genève, recalls: “In the mid-1990s, the diagrams were still drawn on graph paper.” Today, however, data-driven algorithms analyse price movements and assist in decision-making.

Although the fundamental principles of financial market analysis have remained the same, explains Lemaigre, the tools have changed significantly with digitalisation: investment decisions are now made in real time – and are based more on data-driven models and standardised processes than on individual and subjective judgement.

Automation – but humans make the decisions

Valérie Noël has witnessed this transformation at first hand as head of the trading floor at the private bank Syz. She still vividly remembers the pink and blue slips of paper that symbolised buys and sells in a room that used to be much noisier and livelier. Today, transactions are processed electronically, and the atmosphere is different: “On the surface, the trading floor is much quieter.”

Despite the increasing automation of processes, human judgement remains central to trading: “Ultimately, it is always the trader who decides what should be automated and which rules apply to its implementation.”

From a macroeconomic perspective, too, human behaviour remains a decisive factor. Investor and consumer sentiment is now systematically analysed and factored into investment strategies, explains Noël: “There are algorithms that generate forecasts of market participants’ sentiment – and even take the weather into account.”

Structural transitions require long-term thinking

Digitalisation has made the financial market more volatile and short-term in nature. “In recent years, there have been several periods of sharp fluctuations, market corrections and rapid recoveries, without there having been an economic recession since 2008,” says Lemaigre.

2025 is an interesting example: “Geopolitics could have thrown the economy into complete disarray – but that did not happen.” However, market sentiment led investors to shift their assets into the technology sector.

This is because the economy is in the midst of structural change, says Lemaigre: “Due to demographic change, AI is becoming increasingly important to offset the impending labour shortage.”

Added to this are further upheavals: such as the reorganisation of the energy supply. This makes long-term thinking particularly important in financial investments today, in order to make the most of market developments.

Investing is accessible to everyone

Lemaigre sees great macroeconomic potential in investment: “Asset management can make an important contribution by channelling capital into productive economic projects over the medium to long term.” Clients could thus actively help shape economic change – with future generations in mind.

More people are investing today than ever before. This is another effect of digitalisation, as Valérie Noël emphasises: “New digital platforms have opened up access to the financial world for new target groups.”

In the US, over half of citizens now own shares. In Switzerland, the figure is just under one in five.

Personal advice is becoming more important

At the same time, the need for advice in wealth management is growing, as Valérie Noël observes: “We have to explain things much more thoroughly these days: young people and women in particular demand transparency – they really want to understand what we do.”

Digitalisation has therefore not replaced personal advice – on the contrary: it is becoming a key component. And Valérie Noël believes that the Swiss financial centre is particularly well positioned for this thanks to “its expertise, its know-how, the trust it inspires and the confidentiality it guarantees”.

The full interview is available in French on the podcast «De la génération Y à la génération Z : le conseil en placement est en pleine mutation ?».