Choosing a private banker in Neuchâtel based on your situation

Neuchâtel, capital of a watchmaking border canton

Neuchâtel is the capital of the canton of the same name, whose official language is French (constitution of the canton of Neuchâtel, arts. 2 and 4). Watchmaking runs through the canton's history: La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle have been on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 2009 as urban ensembles entirely dedicated to watchmaking (Federal Council press release of 27 June 2009). The city is home to the University of Neuchâtel, a university since 1909, which says it has students of over 100 nationalities, and to the technology research centre CSEM. The canton borders France. It has its own cantonal bank: Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise (BCN), a public-law institution governed by a cantonal act, lists eleven branches, all of them in the canton.

This background shapes the questions worth settling with a private banker. Wealth built up in a business or over a career in industry, shares in your employer, family, accounts or property across the border, a recent move for a post at the university or in research: each of these counts when you choose a banker. If you do not work in French day to day, the language of the relationship comes on top.

This page is for people who live in Switzerland, in Neuchâtel or elsewhere in the canton, or who are preparing to move there, and who are considering entrusting substantial financial assets to a private banker. We wrote it primarily for available financial assets of more than one million Swiss francs. This figure is a guide, not an entry requirement: each institution sets its own criteria for taking on new clients. For an overview of the selection criteria, see our page on Swiss private banks.

Institutions with an office in Neuchâtel

The list below shows, in alphabetical order, the institutions in our database for which we have verified an office serving private clients in Neuchâtel. Being an AlpineCompare partner changes neither the order of the list nor whether an institution appears in it.

This list does not cover every institution active in Neuchâtel: it covers those in our database whose presence in Neuchâtel is published by the institution itself. Here is what each of them publishes about the canton. BCN lists wealth management among the services offered by appointment at its Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds branches. Banque Bonhôte states that it was founded in Neuchâtel in 1815. Piguet Galland, whose majority shareholder is Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, names Neuchâtel and La Chaux-de-Fonds among its six offices. UBS, a universal bank, lists a branch offering advice in Neuchâtel. The information published on institutions is indicative and must be confirmed with the institution concerned.

BCN and Piguet Galland also publish an office in La Chaux-de-Fonds; Banque Bonhôte and UBS, an office in Biel/Bienne. For a wider choice, our database records more institutions in Lausanne and in Bern. If you are considering a banker based in one of those cities, ask at the first contact where and how often your meetings would take place.

What matters when choosing a banker in Neuchâtel

Here are the criteria to look at, and the question that lets you check each one in a first conversation.

If you live in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle, the Val-de-Ruz or the Val-de-Travers, raise the question of the meeting place early. An office in Neuchâtel makes meeting in person easier, but your banker may be attached to another office, and some of your exchanges may take place remotely.

These criteria match the questions of the AlpineCompare simulator: your project, the amount involved, your canton, your language and what you expect from your banker.

Some situations and the questions to raise

The examples below are for illustration: they do not describe real clients and do not call for a standard answer. They show which points to clarify with a private banker depending on your situation.

Whether or not to draw pension capital is a separate decision, taken before the payment, with a pension specialist. What you hold in France falls partly under foreign rules: ask your banker what they handle themselves and what calls for another professional, such as a tax adviser or a notary. Tax questions, whether they concern the canton of Neuchâtel or matters between Switzerland and France, are also for specialists: ask the institution whether it handles them with its own teams or works with your fiduciary or tax adviser.

Different types of institution

In Neuchâtel, as elsewhere in Switzerland, a wealth management relationship can be held with a private bank, a universal bank, a cantonal bank or an independent asset manager. What distinguishes these models is explained on our page on types of institution and selection criteria.

If you are considering an independent asset manager, you can check that it appears on the list, published by FINMA, of portfolio managers licensed by FINMA and monitored by a supervisory organisation.

Preparing your first conversation

A first conversation is more useful once you have clarified a few points. Before your meeting, you can prepare:

• the amount you are thinking of entrusting and what it consists of: cash, securities already invested, the proceeds of a sale, pension capital already paid out;
• what is not yet available: the value of your business, shares you may not yet sell, a deferred payment expected after a sale;
• what you expect from the relationship: management of your investments, organising capital you have received, preparing to pass on your wealth;
• your timetable, for example the date on which funds will become available;
• the accounts, assets or family members you have in France or in another country;
• your residence permit and date of arrival, if your move to Switzerland is recent;
• the contact details of your other advisers: fiduciary, notary, lawyer, tax adviser;
• the language you wish to use, spoken and written.

During the conversation, note each banker's answers on the same points: you can then compare several proposals on a common basis.

How AlpineCompare puts you in touch in Neuchâtel

AlpineCompare is an introduction service and has no office in Neuchâtel. The simulator asks you about your project, the amount involved, your canton of residence, your language and what you expect from your banker. Once your phone number is verified, you obtain a selection of private bankers from our partner institutions, with the option to be put in touch with one of them or to ask to be called back; nothing is passed to any partner until you have confirmed one of these two requests. A banker's direct contact details, where the banker provides them, are shown only after you have confirmed the introduction to that banker or asked that banker to call you back: this confirmation is your agreement to your request being passed to that banker and their institution, which receive it at that moment; AlpineCompare records this agreement and may rely on it with the institution to establish that the relationship arose through its introduction.

For each banker, the selection shows their institution, city and languages, so you can see whether a banker is based in Neuchâtel and works in English. If you send them a request, that banker and their institution may contact you; the arrangements for a meeting are then agreed with them.

• AlpineCompare is paid by the partner institution, under a business-introduction agreement, when a client it introduced signs a contract with that institution; the service is free for you.
• Only private bankers of partners can be presented to you; institutions without a partnership are described on the site in the same way as the others.
• Remuneration plays no part in the selection of the profiles shown or in their order.
• The selection depends on the partner bankers whose profile matches your request; it may include bankers based in other cities.