Pius joined OLZ in 2001 as a founding partner and Chief Executive Officer. He graduated in economics from the Universities of Bern and Rochester (New York, USA), is a long-standing lecturer at the AZEK/CFPI in the module "Equity" and lecturer at the University of Liechtenstein in the field of "Corporate Valuation". Since 2007 he has been Visiting Professor at the PHW Bern in the subject "Value Management". His special fields are financial management and capital markets.
20 years of OLZ: A success story with heart and soul
This year OLZ celebrates its 20th anniversary. A success story about which much can be said. On the occasion of this event, I had an exciting conversation with our dear CEO, Pius Zgraggen.
Pius Zgraggen
CEO and Founding Partner
Dear Pius, first of all: Congratulations!
You are probably alluding to our OLZ anniversary. laughs
Exactly, OLZ is celebrating its 20th anniversary! How does it feel to have been successful in the market for 20 years?
The question is what "successful" means. If you assume that most companies don't get older than 20 years, then we are successful, yes. In my opinion, success for us is strongly dependent on how OLZ is perceived as a brand. And our customers perceive us for what we are: An asset manager with soul. With us, clients know what they are buying and who is sitting across from them. That sets us apart from most of the industry. And that feels very good. Nevertheless, we will also focus more on the client in the future.
There is always a lot to tell in a successful story. Is there an experience that has had a particular impact on you?
A key experience was the decision to enter the market for institutional customers. Thanks to key people from PostFinance, who knew us from earlier, very successful cooperation, we were given a unique opportunity as a young Swiss asset management company, which we seized. OLZ was less than 5 years old at the time and yet we had already become well-known among the professionals. As a newcomer in a saturated market, no one was definitely waiting for us. But there we were, and with success. Such decisions and experiences are all part of my learning curve, which was very formative.
As a newcomer in a saturated market, no one was definitely waiting for us. But there we were, and with success.
Learning curve! - If you now look back on the 20 years, would you do everything the same way again? Why?
No, definitely not. laughs I have learned an incredible amount over the whole time, in all the important areas of entrepreneurship. It took me a lot of time and three starts. Founding, setting up, rebuilding and all the growth are important phases in which you always need special skills, agility and stamina. That's where the real friendships, the whole OLZ family - and maybe also the experience as a former decathlete - helped me. I made mistakes again and again, and if I had the opportunity to do everything the same way again, I would of course take into account what I had already learned from the beginning and pass it on to our clients. We don't want them to fall into the typical traps. We show them that mistakes can be avoided. It is very important to me that clients understand what is possible and what is not possible in asset management.
Finally, let's take a look at the future of OLZ. What can our clients expect from OLZ in the next 20 years?
A fit, agile and clearly customer-focused company that continues to strengthen its well-known values and the OLZ brand. A company that stands for exactly what it has stood for over the last 20 years. This also includes our research and development, which brings the latest findings from science and the market to our customers even faster and more comprehensibly. We will have a clear digital orientation, but we will still be there for our customers personally whenever they need us. OLZ is taking on board the positive developments, but retaining direct and personal customer contact. We advise customers honestly and also tell them when something is only possible by chance. Just as we have done for the past 20 years.
