01.10.2022
Dear Reader,
I was particularly looking forward to this newsletter as there have been many exciting developments. We were able to use the Corona crisis to take Bergos Private bank a great deal further and make it “Fit for Future”. We concluded our final ownership structure at the end of 2020 and have become a fully independent Swiss private bank. Our structure is now balanced in such a way that the bank will continue to exist in the long term and can position and align itself accordingly. As CEO of a bank, one can’t imagine anything better. We have committed ourselves to addressing the NextGeneration. This seems to be a trend within banking and actually almost all banks are jumping on this bandwagon. However, if you take a closer look, you quickly realise that they only want to ensure that the assets entrusted to them are not lost in the event of a change of generation. But honestly, is this something new and shouldn’t every bank have had this in mind long ago? Inheritance and gifting have been going on for thousands of years.
For us at Bergos, it’s about something else. With our Next Approach, we want to learn from the Next Generation. We need to and must learn what will be expected of us as a bank in the future. Which topics will play a role? How does a customer want to experience the bank in the future and what must be the focus of our services in the future? We also want to and have to learn how we have to change as an employer. The way we work in the future will be very different from the way we work now. Unlike in the past, young employees often already know more than their bosses. They are also better at handling knowledge and data than their bosses once painstakingly learned a long time ago. They want to feel the benefit/impact of their work right away, and it is not uncommon for them to want to take responsibility for their own tasks at a very early stage. And rightly so – they are appropriately trained, self-confident and responsible.
This change certainly still has many aspects. We at Bergos are actively facing it. First of all, we have adapted the organisational structure and changed the way we work. We put the client at the centre and rely more and more on task-related teamwork by the respective experts. A new understanding of leadership has also taken hold. Instead of hierarchies, we focus on “non-bossying” and individual responsibility. We formed a team that works out the interests and needs of the Next Generation together with them. Corresponding communities were formed and the first events were organised via Zoom. The positive response and feedback encouraged us to go one step further.
In mid-September, we dedicated the bank’s first physical event in almost two years to the Next Generation and invited them to the Next Weekend in Zurich. I was also allowed to participate – as a guest, so to speak – and was thrilled by the openness, fluency, active participation and curiosity of our numerous guests from near and far. Everything was so wonderfully uncomplicated and of course there was also a great party! We took the opportunity to introduce our new Artist in Resident: Gareth Donkin from Manchester joined us via Zoom. After all, our Bergos AIR project is also a project by and for the Next Generation. Representatives from the children of our owners, together with staff members, select special artists of the Next Generation in both musical and visual arts and the Bank supports them in various ways over a period of time.
I would like to thank our “Next Gen team”, who inspire me daily, for their excellent work and tireless commitment. I thank all of you, dear readers, for your interest and your active support. Together with you, I look forward to “more”. Be curious, we still have a lot in store! Don’t just follow our path to a successful future, but actively follow it together with us!
Dr. Peter Raskin
CEO Bergos AG