Choosing a private banker in St. Gallen based on your situation

Choosing a private bank in St. Gallen

According to provisional figures published by the canton, the city of St. Gallen had almost 79,500 inhabitants at the end of 2025 and the canton almost 544,000. The canton borders three countries: Germany to the north, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. The cantonal business promotion agency describes it as one of Switzerland's most important locations for the machinery, electrical and metal industries, and the University of St. Gallen (HSG) trains people in fields including management, business leadership and finance.

For a private individual, this context turns into practical questions. If you run or own a company, the share of your wealth tied up in it and the timetable of any succession matter as much as the amount available today. If you have an account, a home or family across the border, that is a point to raise with your banker. And St. Gallen is in German-speaking Switzerland: the language of the relationship, spoken and written, is worth settling from the start.

This page is for people who live in Switzerland, in St. Gallen or elsewhere in Eastern Switzerland, Swiss nationals and expatriates alike, 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 St. Gallen

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

The list contains the five institutions in our database for which we have verified an office in St. Gallen: three private banks, a universal bank and the cantonal bank. Only the cantonal bank is headquartered in St. Gallen; the others have their head office in Zurich or Lucerne and an office in St. Gallen. This says nothing about the quality of the service, but it is a useful question to ask: from which office will your relationship be looked after day to day, and where do the specialists you might meet work?

The canton's own cantonal bank, St.Galler Kantonalbank, lists six locations for its private banking clients: St. Gallen, where it has its head office, Bad Ragaz, Rapperswil-Jona, St. Margrethen, Wil and Zurich. Reichmuth & Co, a private bank headquartered in Lucerne, publishes a location in St. Gallen, alongside those in Lucerne and Zurich.

This list does not cover every institution active in St. Gallen. For a longer list, our page on private banks in Zurich shows the institutions whose Zurich office we have verified. The information published on institutions is indicative and must be confirmed with the institution concerned.

If you live elsewhere in Eastern Switzerland, our database also records offices serving private clients in Appenzell, Bad Ragaz, Frauenfeld, Herisau, Rapperswil-Jona, St. Margrethen and Wil. They do not appear here, because the list covers only the city of St. Gallen.

What matters when choosing a banker in St. Gallen

Here are the criteria to look at when choosing a private banker in St. Gallen, and the question that lets you check each one in a first conversation.

An office in St. Gallen makes meeting in person easier, but on its own it says nothing about how your relationship will be organised: your banker may be attached to another office, and some of your exchanges may take place remotely. If you live in the Rheintal, the Toggenburg, Thurgau or either of the two Appenzell cantons, ask where your meetings would take place.

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.

Situations you meet in St. Gallen

If you run a family business or an SME, much of your wealth may be in the company itself. The available financial assets, the ones you could entrust to a banker, are then limited to your private cash and securities; the value of the company is not part of them until you have received the proceeds of its sale. If a succession is being prepared, within the family, to members of management or to an outside buyer, separate what will be available at signing from what will only become available later, for example through staged payments. The University of St. Gallen has a research centre devoted to family and owner-managed businesses, the Center for Family Business; succession and governance are among its topics.

The canton borders Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. If you live in St. Gallen and have an account in Liechtenstein, a home in Vorarlberg, family or an inheritance in progress in Germany, say so from the start. Some of these matters fall under foreign rules: ask your banker what they handle themselves and what calls for another professional, such as a tax adviser or a notary.

Also according to the canton's provisional figures, 27.2% of its residents were foreign nationals at the end of 2025. If you moved here recently, from Germany, Austria or further afield, part of your wealth may still be in your home country, in a currency other than the Swiss franc. List what is in Switzerland and what is not: that is the basis of a useful conversation, whatever you decide afterwards.

Our page on your situation sets out, for the whole of Switzerland, what is worth preparing after selling a business, receiving an inheritance or selling a property.

Different types of institution

In St. Gallen, the list includes private banks, a universal bank and the cantonal bank; a wealth management relationship can also be held with 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

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;
• the share of your wealth held in your company, and the timetable of any succession or sale;
• what lies outside Switzerland: accounts, property, assets in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein or your home country;
• the language you wish to use, spoken and written;
• what you expect from the relationship: management of your investments, organising capital you have received, preparing to pass on your wealth;
• the contact details of the professionals who already work with you, such as your accountant or notary, if you would like them involved;
• your questions on continuity: who takes over if your banker is away or changes.

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 St. Gallen

AlpineCompare is an introduction service and has no office in St. Gallen. 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 St. Gallen or in another city, such as Zurich, and which languages they work in. 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.