Short-termism can cause problems, not least within the companies fund managers invest in. “One of the biggest challenges for active managers is short-termism. People are treating funds like they are a commodity. It means investing for your retirement, not this year’s returns or next quarter’s returns,” he says.
“We have lost sight of what long term means. Two other issues seem to preoccupy the finance graduate more than Brexit. This is partly because, like many others, the fund house already has a management company in Luxembourg, where many of its funds are domiciled, and partly because he believes staff would be willing to move. He adds that even if Pictet were forced to bulk up its staff in EU countries in order to continue selling its funds to European investors following the UK and Swiss votes , this would not be a big task. The company has plans to hire about 50 people this year, many of whom will be based in London and Switzerland. The recruitment drive comes despite the market volatility experienced earlier this year on the back of fears about a recession in China. “London and Switzerland will remain our major hubs unless there is a major change in regulation,” he says. The bloc has threatened to suspend other EU-Swiss agreements, including those that make it easier to trade, if Switzerland unilaterally imposes quotas.Īt the moment, the Swiss vote “doesn’t have any impact” on Pictet’s operations and staff, although Mr Ramsey admits it is “very difficult to know” what might happen in future.īut he says the company is committed to Switzerland and London, where it has had an office since 1982 and where Mr Ramsey spends about 40 per cent of his time. If the country pushes ahead with a quota, it would violate the terms of Switzerland’s free-movement treaty with the EU. Switzerland is not a member of the EU but accesses the common market by accepting the trading bloc’s key rules, including allowing EU citizens to live and work in the Alpine country. Its two largest offices are in the UK and Switzerland - the latter of which voted in 2014 to introduce quotas on EU migrants from 2017. “There is nothing at the moment” that suggests asset managers without a large EU hub would face any restrictions selling their products across the common market, he says.Īnd yet, if there were restrictions, Pictet AM is among the continental European asset managers that could be most affected, because it might soon lose its base in an EU country. Sitting in his large London office that overlooks some of the City’s most iconic buildings, Mr Ramsey plays down these concerns. They fear they will lose their right to “ passport” products and services from London into EU countries. His relaxed stance is in stark contrast to many of his peers.īanks have threatened to relocate thousands of staff from the City of London, the UK’s financial hub, while asset managers are looking at bulking up their operations in other European countries because of Brexit.
“The activity has been calm and measured.” “We have not seen any major panic ,” says the father of two. Between June 24, the day the result of the referendum was announced, and July 6, the investment house had net inflows of £590m. The volatility and negative sentiments surrounding markets are “a buying signal”, not least because there is value to be found in stocks right now, he says.Īs for outflows, Pictet AM, which is part of the eponymous Swiss private bank, has not been affected, the 46-year-old adds. Mutual funds in Europe suffered their worst outflows for a year, as investors withdrew money over concerns about a British exit from the EU.īut Mr Ramsey, a Swiss native who enjoys scuba diving, is quick to dismiss potential problems. In the wake of the vote, sterling dropped to 30-year lows and billions of dollars were wiped off the value of stock markets globally. “It is not worrying us at this stage,” says the man who became chief executive of the €139bn Swiss asset manager at the start of 2016.
We meet just 12 days after the UK’s surprise vote in favour of leaving the EU and Mr Ramsey rejects many of the concerns that have arisen.
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