Launch of a new US investment bank in Switzerland

There is a tough battle for market share in Swiss investment banking and in Europe. American banks have the upper hand. With the entry of Stifel, the market becomes even tighter. Swiss CEO Ebrahim Attarzadeh says otherwise finews.chhow you want to act against the competition.

Another American investment bank will launch in Switzerland from (today) Monday: it is Stifel, an institution that is more than 130 years old and is mainly known for its brokerage and is based in St. Louis in the US state of Missouri. .

Stifel entered the market through the acquisition of Mainfirst Bank, announced two years ago, which has a successful brokerage in Zurich.

Brexit was the reason

Integration has now taken place. The teams are in place and with the previous CEO of Mainfirst Ebrahim attarzadeh Stifel’s leadership remains the same. Attarzadeh will also lead Stifel’s European equities business.

Many things can change in two years. Stifel’s focus and strategy sharpened after the acquisition originally had the primary goal of securing access to the European market for the London-based US bank even after Brexit.

Leaving Vontobels offers new reasons

However, a year ago, Bank Vontobel was strategically reoriented to become an investment manager. This opened a new gap in the investment banking market, otherwise tight in Switzerland, as Attarzadeh spoke with finews.ch says: “Market opportunities have also emerged since Vontobel retired from the corporate finance business.”

In Switzerland, Mainfirst was one of the last remaining brokers to make a name for themselves primarily through their research on local businesses.

Spearhead of investment banking momentum

Mediation, from now on from Stifel, will continue to be an important pillar. But the American actor wants to establish himself in Switzerland, as well as in Germany, Italy, France and Great Britain as a complete investment bank, with capital market transactions and advice on mergers and acquisitions.

“We, former Mainfirst employees, are now spearheading Stifel’s investment banking initiative in Switzerland,” says Attarzadeh. That’s 16 employees in Zurich, and the plan is to expand the workforce in Europe to 20 to 25 investment bankers over the next three years.

David seems to want to compete against all the Goliaths that now dominate the European market. With a market capitalization of around $ 4 billion, Stifel is a dwarf compared to giants like Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan.

Fresh supplier

The investment banking market in Switzerland is particularly tough, especially as three strong players at UBS, Credit Suisse and Zürcher Kantonalbank are defending their local market.

“We are aware that the planned move is taking place in a very competitive environment,” said Attarzadeh, who began his commercial career at Deutsche Bank. “At the same time, we know from experience that companies appreciate working with newer and less established suppliers on the investment side.”

Focus on medium-growth companies

The advantages he sees lie in his deep knowledge of the universe of companies in Europe; So far, Mainfirst has covered more than 400 stocks. With Stifel it will be more than 1,000.

Mainfirst also specialized in small and mid-cap companies. Stifel wants to take advantage of this. “As an investment bank, we want to become the one-stop-shop for mid-growth companies and we see an attractive niche in this segment that the big players cannot fill,” said the Stifel boss.

Use disruptive situations

It has already proven in the past that it can react quickly to changing market conditions. When the NZB Neue Zürcher Bank stopped brokerage in 2011, Mainfirst was there. The workforce that was taken on at the time formed the Zurich backbone of the Germany-based bank.

It wants to continue exploiting these “disturbing situations”, according to Attarzadeh, in order to secure the planned reinforcements of personnel for Stifel.