What Makes Pictet an Important Swiss Custodian Bank for International Investors?

Congratulations are in order! Pictet has crossed the USD 1 T mark in assets under management or custody. For Alpen Partners, the milestone has particular significance: Pictet was our first partner bank.

Choosing a custodian bank is one of the fundamental decisions in international wealth management. Where will the assets actually be held? Which currencies and markets can be accessed? How strong is the banking infrastructure? What reporting is available? And can the institution accommodate clients whose financial lives extend across borders?

For Alpen, one of the answers came early.

Banque Pictet & Cie SA was our first partner bank.

More than two centuries after its founding in Geneva, Pictet has now passed another remarkable milestone: as of June 30, 2026, assets under management or custody reached CHF 810 B, equivalent to over USD 1 T.

We congratulate Pictet’s partners and employees on crossing the USD 1 trillion threshold. It is an impressive achievement for one of Switzerland’s most established private banking institutions and, from our perspective, confirmation that we chose a partner with considerable potential from the outset.

Why is crossing USD 1 T such an important milestone?

A trillion dollars is more than a headline number. The structure behind that number is equally interesting.

Pictet remains owned and managed by its partners. It does not engage in investment banking and does not extend commercial loans. Its activities are concentrated on wealth management, asset management, alternative investments, and related asset services.

That comparatively focused business model has been maintained through very different economic environments since the bank’s foundation in Geneva in 1805.

For an independent wealth manager offering custodian banks to international clients, the institution behind the portfolio matters.

Investments may change over time. The quality of the infrastructure holding them matters throughout the relationship.

Why did Alpen choose Pictet as its first partner bank?

When Alpen began developing its international wealth management offering, we needed custodian banks capable of doing considerably more than simply holding securities.

They needed international experience, sophisticated custody infrastructure, broad market access, multiple currencies, high-quality reporting, and the ability to work effectively with an independent wealth manager.

Pictet stood out early.

It became our first partner bank, helping establish the model we continue to use today: client assets remain directly with an established custodian bank while Alpen independently advises on and manages the portfolio.

Since then, our network of custodian banks has expanded. That is an important part of being independent.

But there is naturally something satisfying about seeing the institution we selected first pass USD 1 T in assets under management or custody.

We chose Pictet early. Its development since then suggests we chose well.

What is the difference between Pictet as custodian and Alpen as wealth manager?

The distinction is central to our business model.

Pictet holds the assets. Alpen manages the wealth.

The client establishes a direct account relationship with the bank. The custodian provides the banking infrastructure, safekeeping, settlement, execution, foreign exchange, reporting, and other agreed banking services.

Alpen remains independent of the custodian. We provide portfolio management and investment advice according to the client’s objectives, risk profile, circumstances, and agreed mandate.

That separation provides an important degree of flexibility.

The wealth manager does not need to begin with the question, “Which products does this bank want to sell?”

We can begin instead with, “What does this client need?”

The bank then provides the infrastructure through which the agreed strategy can be implemented.

Why does Pictet’s open architecture matter?

For us, an effective custodian should provide access rather than impose unnecessary limitations.

Pictet’s platform supports an open-architecture approach, allowing portfolios to extend beyond proprietary investment products. Its infrastructure provides access to major international markets and multiple asset classes, including equities, fixed income, funds, foreign exchange, precious metals, structured products, derivatives, and other eligible investments.

That complements the independent wealth management model particularly well.

We can evaluate investments across a broad universe and construct portfolios according to client requirements rather than building them around a predetermined product shelf.

For international investors, this can be especially valuable when wealth spans countries, currencies, investment markets, and asset classes.

Why is a multi-currency banking platform important?

International wealth is rarely as simple as a single portfolio in a single currency.

A family may earn income in one currency, own businesses or property in another, have children studying in a third country, and expect future expenses somewhere else entirely.

A Swiss custodian with sophisticated foreign-exchange and multi-currency capabilities can provide the infrastructure needed to manage those different exposures within one banking relationship.

For Alpen, currency is also an investment consideration.

We look at currency exposure as part of the client’s wider asset allocation and financial circumstances rather than treating the portfolio’s base currency as an afterthought.

That can be particularly relevant for international families seeking to reduce unnecessary dependence on one currency or financial system.

Who can open an account with Pictet through Alpen?

One of Pictet’s strengths from our perspective is its ability to accommodate a broad range of eligible international clients, subject, of course, to the bank’s onboarding, jurisdictional, regulatory, and compliance requirements.

That international reach is important because our clients may live in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, North America, or elsewhere.

American clients can also be accommodated through appropriate structures where applicable. For US clients specifically, Alpen Partners International is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as an Investment Adviser, allowing us to provide investment management to eligible American clients in the United States and abroad.

The wider story, however, is international.

Pictet’s experience with a diverse and complex global client base makes it particularly relevant to the type of cross-border families we serve.

Through our relationship with Pictet, accounts can generally be established for eligible Alpen clients starting from USD 2 M, subject to the bank’s acceptance and applicable requirements.

Why does tax reporting matter for international clients?

International investing can create considerable reporting complexity.

The investments themselves are only one side of the equation. Clients and their professional advisers also need accurate information that can be used to meet the requirements of their country of residence or citizenship.

This is an area where our experience with different custodian banks matters.

Among the banks we work with, we consider Pictet’s tax reporting capabilities to be particularly strong.

Pictet provides tax reports for more than 50 countries, alongside broader portfolio, transaction, and consolidated reporting capabilities.

For an internationally active family and for the accountants, tax advisers, trustees, and other professionals working alongside them, good reporting can make a meaningful practical difference.

It is not the most glamorous aspect of international wealth management.

It is, however, one of the aspects clients tend to appreciate enormously when tax reporting time arrives.

Why does international custody add another dimension to diversification?

A globally diversified investment portfolio is not necessarily a globally diversified wealth structure.

An investor can own American, European, Asian, and emerging-market securities and still hold virtually every financial asset with institutions in one country.

That is why we distinguish between investment diversification and jurisdictional diversification.

A Swiss custodian relationship can provide another jurisdiction from which part of a family’s wealth is held and managed. A multi-currency platform can add another layer. An open investment architecture can broaden the available investment universe.

These elements can complement existing domestic banking and investment relationships rather than replace them.

For many internationally active families, that is the point.

Does holding assets at Pictet make an international client taxable in Switzerland?

No. As a non-resident of Switzerland, investments held at a Swiss bank and managed by a Swiss wealth manager are generally not subject to Swiss personal income, capital gains, wealth, or inheritance taxes simply because the assets are held in Switzerland.

Clients remain responsible for the applicable tax and reporting requirements of their countries of residence and, where relevant, citizenship.

The location of custody and the location of tax residence are separate considerations.

Why doesn’t Alpen work with only one custodian bank?

Because independence also means choice.

Pictet was our first partner bank, but today we work with a selection of Swiss custodian banks.

Different institutions have different strengths in areas such as amounts of investment required, custody, reporting, credit, technology, geographic coverage, investment access, service, and pricing. Different clients also have different requirements.

Our role is therefore not to make every client fit one banking institution.

It is to evaluate the client’s broader circumstances and determine which custodian relationship, or combination of relationships, may be appropriate.

Pictet occupies an important place within that network, both because of what it offers today and because it was where our own custodian-bank story began.

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

There are many ways to measure the development of a financial institution. Crossing USD 1 T in assets under management or custody is certainly one of the more visible ones.

For us, however, there is another part of the story.

Pictet was our first partner bank.

We selected it because we saw qualities that mattered to our international clients: institutional strength, international reach, open architecture, multi-currency capabilities, sophisticated custody infrastructure, and high-quality reporting.

Today, our custodian network is broader, just as our international client base has grown and evolved.

But Pictet reaching this milestone gives us a particularly good reason to congratulate a long-standing partner and perhaps allow ourselves the observation that we recognized the potential early on.

More importantly, the relationship continues to illustrate a principle at the heart of independent Swiss wealth management:

The bank provides the custody and financial infrastructure. We independently manage the client’s wealth.

Each has a different role. Together, they can provide an effective framework for internationally diversified wealth.

About the Author

We provide portfolio management, international investment diversification, Swiss custodian banking relationships, multi-currency strategies, liquidity planning, family office services, and broader cross-border wealth planning.

As an independent wealth manager, we are not limited to a single custodian bank or proprietary product platform. We work with selected Swiss financial institutions according to client circumstances, objectives, and preferences.

For American clients in the United States and abroad, Alpen Partners International is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as an Investment Adviser.