Nuveen, the global investment manager with over $1trn in assets under management, has opened a new office in Zurich and appointed Christian Leger as managing director and head of Switzerland.
In a statement on 16 August, Nuveen said he will lead its expansion across the country, in alignment with its objectives to both support, and grow, its existing institutional client base and grow its offering for private wealth clients.
Nuveen has built and maintained relationships with Swiss clients for several years, it said.
Due to the growth of AUM in Switzerland, Nuveen took the strategic decision to build a local presence in the heart of the country's financial capital.
It also forms part of a strategic move by Nuveen to bolster its private wealth offering in Europe, having identified the Swiss market as an important region to meet this objective, given the depth, breadth and reach of its investor base.
Nuveen offers a range of solutions to Swiss clients across public and private markets including products across the global real estate and alternatives sectors, which it further said have seen heightened investor interest, in recent years.
Christian Leger joined Nuveen from Allianz Global Investors where he was country head for Switzerland and head of European Banks having served as managing director, business development at Capital Group before that.
He brings over 20 years of experience in the asset management industry and is joined by Michele Perone, who also joins from Allianz Global Investors and will be dedicated to the growth of Nuveen's private wealth business in Switzerland.
The office represents the 17th Nuveen office in Europe and is located on Fraumünsterstrasse in the heart of Zurich.
Romina Smith, head of Central Europe, Global Client Group, said: "The opening of our office in Switzerland is a significant step for Nuveen's European expansion plans, as we focus on bolstering our services to the private wealth and institutional investment industries.
"A local presence is essential to our success here as Switzerland is home to some of the world's largest private banks and global financial institutions and we see the Zürich office as key to further unlocking the wealth market in Europe.
"We are also extremely lucky to be able to welcome Christian to lead these efforts. Christian brings a wealth of experience, having covered Swiss clients throughout the entirety of his career. We believe that with our diverse investment offering and extensive experience investing across both public and private market solutions, Nuveen is uniquely suited to address Swiss clients' current and future needs. Christian's knowledge of the local market and industry expertise will be invaluable as we look to build and strengthen our client base."
